The 2008 Information | Transport Packaging Forum

Speakers List

Keynote Address:
CURRENT and FUTURE TRENDS AFFECTING PACKAGING CHOICES GLOBALLY

Dr. S. Paul Singh
Professor, School of Packaging,
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
Activities and Positions (partial list)
• Director, Consortium of Distribution Packaging
Research, School of Packaging,
Michigan State University
• Board of Directors, International Association
of Packaging Research Institutes (IAPRI)
• Board of Directors, International Safe Transit
Association (ISTA)
• Past Chair Division I, ASTM International
Committee D10 on Packaging
• Packaging Consultant
• Expert witness

Honors and Awards (partial list)
• Award of Merit & Fellow - ASTM International, 2007
• Logistics Achievement Award, National Institute of
Packaging and Handling Engineers
• Outstanding Mentor Award, Post-Baccalaureate
Achievement Program, Michigan State University
• Leadership Fellow, Michigan State University
• Bronze Star, Ameristar Packaging Competition.

WAL-MART and ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

Amy Zettlemoyer-Lazar
Packaging Director
SAM'S CLUB
Co-Manager,
Packaging Sustainable Value Network
WAL-MART STORES

Amy Zettlemoyer-Lazar graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology with a degree in Packaging Science. Prior to working for Wal-Mart, she worked in Research & Development at Clorox and Kraft Foods. She is a co-inventor of a design patent for packaging on the DiGiorno Deep Dish Pizza.

Miranda Tsoi
Packaging Manager for Direct Imports
SAM'S CLUB

Miranda Tsoi has over 20 years of packaging and industrial experience, having joined the packaging industry in 1987. Prior to working for Wal-Mart, she worked in Packaging Development and Quality Control at Blyth Inc.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. views environmental sustainability as one of the most important opportunities for both the future of our business, and the future of our world. Our opportunity is to become a better company by looking at every facet of our business - from the products we offer to the energy we use - through the lens of sustainability. Wal-Mart's environmental goals are simple and straightforward: to be supplied 100 percent by renewable energy; to create zero waste; and to sell products that sustain our natural resources and the environment. Product damage caused by packaging failure contributes to waste and is not sustainable. Sam's Club, a division of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. has been working with several ISTA certified labs to conduct ISTA 3E and 3A. Using these test methods and adding some handling tests for clamp simulation, we have been able to reduce damages and waste to Sam's Club and improve quality for our Members. Sam's Club and ISTA are also working together to develop a Warehouse Distribution Simulation test protocol to more accurately test our products. The outcome of this collaboration will be a "just right" simulation test to help determine when an item is over packaged and under packaged so we optimize the use of materials to reduce waste.

AIR TRANSPORT VIBRATION STUDY

David Jin Y M
LANSMONT China Office Chief Representative

For the past 20 years, David has provided sales and service for reliability related products and equipment, mostly vibration test systems. In 2000, David started working for Lansmont Corporation in China. His main responsibilities include developing the packaging test equipment market as well as promoting ISTA related test procedures within that market. David has participated in distribution data collection efforts, helping to develop advanced testing methodologies in support of ISTA’s “Just Right Packaging” vision.

Over the past few years, the data acquired from air transport studies suggest there may be a significant discrepancy between the actual dynamic input versus the most commonly used air transport random vibration test profiles. This presentation will highlight the discrepancy, review a comprehensive research proposal, and report current findings to date regarding the discrepancy.

TRANSPORTATION OF CULTURAL PROPERTIES

Nobuyuki Kamba
Head of Conservation
TOKYO NATIONAL MUSEUM

Nobuyuki Kamba has degrees in physics (1977), an MA in conservation science (1979), and he received a PhD for his research on microclimate control (1997). He worked as a painting conservator for 5 years after finishing postgraduate courses. The next 14 years he worked in the Museum Science Department of the National Museum of Japanese History. Since 1998 he has become Head of Conservation of Tokyo National Museum. He has been focusing on introduction of preventive conservation and establishment of practical conservation in the museum for nine years. He is one of the Executive Members of the Japan Society for the Conservation of Cultural Properties.

Masahiro Takagi
Founder & CEO
eXcearch LLC

Masahiro Takagi has more than 17 years of experience in the packaging industry. His experience has focused on utilizing shock and vibration testing equipment, and transportation environment recording devices. He has given a number of lectures and seminars on testing and measurement for protective packaging design. He is a co-founder of eXcearch LLC, which provides consulting services on product damage control and transportation quality management, and is a member of ISTA.

Cultural properties such as statues of Buddha, paintings, ceramics, etc. move globally because they are regularly loaned between museums. Therefore, professionals in museums work diligently to protect those cultural properties from damage during transportation. Packaging methods of the cultural properties (in Japan) still rely mostly on “experience,” however, Tokyo National Museum has been trying to adopt a more scientific approach.

This presentation introduces transportation environment measurement studies jointly done by Tokyo National Museum and eXcearch LLC. The collected data show interesting characteristics, and the information may even be utilized when designing packaging and palletization for commercial goods.

METHODS TO ACHIEVE GREEN PACKAGING

Speed Liu
Packaging Manager
LENOVO GLOBAL PROCUREMENT ENGINEERING

Liu joined the packaging industry in 2000, with over
10 years of industrial design experience. He has been dedicated to the design and promotion of the concept of “green packaging”. For years, Liu has been investigating new materials, new approaches, and new concepts in the areas of green packaging, and has achieved success with several designs. For example, the slipsheet project designed by him won the annual award in IBM’s environment conference in Washington, 2003. Meanwhile, through his efforts, the thermoplastic cushion which is made of 100% recycled PE is now successfully utilized for PCs.

Global warming, energy consumption and limited natural resources are the key environmental concerns for the world’s sustainable growth. More and more PC enterprises have been aware of the importance of sustainable growth and have instituted “green” projects. PC packaging is also in the spotlight regarding green products.

Within Lenovo’s packaging engineering team, the definition of “green” can be simply summed up as “Reduce, Reuse and Recycle”, which means packaging should be designed to optimize materials and energy consumption, while maximizing use of renewable and recycled materials.

There are many options to achieve “green”, such as shrinking the carton size with more advanced cushioning materials, enabling customers to adopt bulk-packaging to replace individual packaging, designing returnable packaging solutions and processes, and applying highly recycled raw materials.

With all the efforts, PC enterprises can not only harvest cost benefits, but also make a contribution to protecting the planet’s environment.

"ASIA ENVIRONMENTAL CONSCIOUS PACKAGING GUIDELINE" and SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING IN CHINA

Li Xin
Executive Director
CHINA PACKAGING FEDERATION SHANGHAI
Vice President
PACKAGING TECHNOLOGY ASSOCIATION
General Business Manager, Cryovac Asia and Protective Packaging North Asia
SEALED AIR CORPORATION

Mr. Li Xin has been with Sealed Air, a world leading packaging company, for 17 years in various positions in sales, marketing and executive management in Canada, USA and China. He has been active in the packaging associations for the past 17 years. He currently serves as Executive Director of the China Packaging Federation, and Vice President of the Shanghai Packaging Technology Association, and participates in the drafting and commenting of packaging directives and standards. Mr. Li also served as President of the Cascades Chapter of the Institute of Packaging Professionals (IoPP) in the USA during 2003-2004. He holds a bachelor's degree in Economics from University of Regina in Canada, and an MBA from Golden Gate University in San Francisco, USA, and has been interviewed by various packaging and general business journals. He currently resides in Shanghai, China.

The Asian countries, represented by their respective country packaging associations, are working together in the drafting of an “Asia Environmental Conscious Packaging Guideline”. Although a non-compulsory guideline, it will have an impact on each country's domestic packaging standards and policies. China is also drafting the "Packaging Material Recovery Management Directive" which addresses not only the back-end recovery, but also the front-end material selection and design, etc. The speaker will share the latest developments in China related to Sustainable Packaging.

HAZARDS ALONG THE SUPPLY CHAIN

David Shires BA (hons)
Chief Consultant, Distribution & Logistics Group
PIRA INTERNATIONAL

David is responsible for the technical design and evaluation of packaged products to assure durability to handling and distribution. Based at Pira’s world-class distribution test laboratory, he combines broad laboratory-based project experience with extensive field and client work.

David has an honors degree in Physics and has worked across most packaging media in both primary and distribution packaging. He has specialist knowledge in packaging and materials testing and extensive experience in problem solving.

David served for 6 years on the board of the International Safe Transit Association, lectures on the Packaging MSc course at Brunel and Loughborough Universities, and is Editor-in-Chief of the international journal “Packaging Technology & Science”.

Products must be designed and packaged to be durable to those supply chain hazards that will be encountered in distribution. This paper considers the diversity in supply chains in national, international and fast moving consumer-goods (FMCG) logistics. The paper shows how a supply chain can be mapped for hazard content (using auditing and data recorders as assessment tools) and the findings applied to assure that appropriate packaging materials, formats and designs are used.

Packaging light-weighting and cost reduction are demanded by legislation and large international retailers, and are key to profitability and competitive advantage. The presentation includes case studies which illustrate how packaging minimisation initiatives can be supported by appropriate testing and technical knowledge.

WORKING SCORE IN DESIGNING FOLDING CARTONS

Sun Cheng
President
TIANJIN VOCATIONAL TRAINING UNIVERSITY

Mr. Sun has been studying paper packaging design for many years. He is member of the Printing & Packaging Teaching Directive Committee of the Higher Professional Education of Ministry of Education; assistant secretary-general of the Packaging Dynamics Committee of China Vibration Engineering Acad. In the China Packaging Federation, he is vice dean member of the Education Committee; specially-invited expert of the Experts Work Team and a member of the Teaching Material Edit Committee. He is also editor of the China Packaging Yearbook and Packaging Engineering.

High-speed automatic box gluing machines have become the prefered devices in package postpress for the modern paper packing enterprise. The key element to design the folding carton (box) which is applicable for the high-speed automatic box gluing machine is the working score design. To be jointed together accurately in its flat blank state, the blank needs crease lines which can be folded 180°. The crease lines which are able to be folded 180° and can join manufacturer’s joints together accurately in flat blank states are the working scores. Working scores can be crease lines, slit-score lines, or half-cutting lines in the production process. It is necessary to design the working score in designing the tube, auto bottom, tray, auto tube-tray cartons and the bottom of non-tube-tray cartons. Owing to variety of structures of tubes, sometimes working scores are just the molding lines, while other times some of them are molding lines and the others must be designed separately. For the non-basic structure, all the working scores may be designed separately. Two working scores are enough for a simple folding carton, but 1~2 or more are needed for complicated cartons such as the multi-tiered panels and one-piece compartment structures. In addition, working score design may affect the design of the other parts of the folding carton, for example, the fixing of glue lap direction of dividing panels, and so on.

THE APPLICATION OF ISTA STANDARDS IN AUTO PARTS PACKAGING DESIGN

Xu Weifeng
Senior Engineer
CHINA PACKAGING RESEARCH & TEST CENTER

Mr. Xu has worked for CPRTC for 13 years. His responsibilities include consulting with customers, designing packages, and performing ISO certification for foreign and domestic customers. As a member of related committees, Mr. Xu works on national and industrial packaging standards. He is also a part-time lecturer at the UK Royal Packaging Institute and has held technical packaging training sessions at Haire University.

This presentation will identify the different characteristics of auto parts and packaging based on a systemic analysis for parts packaging in the area of logistics. Also discussed will be the demand for designs according to ISTA standards, using logistic conditions in ISTA standards, evaluating small and large parts as well as different types of packaging used in the automotive industry. Finally, this presentation will bring together all areas of ISTA standards that assist in packaging design.

GREEN PALLETS MOVE THE WORLD — FROM CHINA

Kimberly Chan
General Manager
SUN CHARMING PALLET CO., LTD.

Kimberly Chan has 16 years of working experience in various sectors. Currently she is General Manager of Sun Charming Pallet Co. Ltd.

Summary: China is the biggest mill in the world. According to statistical data from 2007, the quantity of containers for export and import in all China ports exceeded one hundred million. This number stands first for the past 5 years. The pallet is one of the main transportation means inside containers. As pallets carry goods all around the world, the materials of export pallets are getting noticed by many countries. So inventing green and cost-saving pallets is not only a main stream in logistics, but also the most important mission of China in developing logistics worldwide.

REPETITIVE SHOCK vs. RANDOM VIBRATION TESTING

Helen Li
Sales Specialist
L.A.B. EQUIPMENT, INC.

Helen is a Sales Specialist at L.A.B. Equipment, participating in market expansion and sales promotion activities for packaging test equipment. Prior to her current position, she worked as a technical document translation project manager for a telecommunications company, and technical translator for an industrial control and automation company.

While the global economy makes the world smaller, more products have entered into the shipping stream. The challenges of package design to get the product to the end user has not changed, but choosing the right simulation to test for the hazards has become even more critical today. This is especially true for vibration testing. This discussion will review the two most commonly used laboratory simulations for vibration; repetitive shock (sinusoidal) and random vibration. The challenge continues to be to find the right balance of protection between the product and package design. In addition, over-designing or under-designing your package protection can cost both money and customer loyalty. This presentation will outline the pros and cons of each type of laboratory simulation and also present a practical approach to choosing the right simulation for your needs.

FUNCTIONS of TRANSPORT PACKAGING TESTS in MATERIAL SELECTION OF FLEXIBLE PACKAGES

Wu Xiangning (Masters Degree)
R&D and ISO System Management Vice
General Manager
SHANGHAI ZIJIANG COLOR PRINTING & PACKAGING CO., LTD.

Mr. Wu has 13 years of R&D and quality control experience in the flexible packaging industry, involved with flexible packaging production and its application. He also works on national and industrial packaging standards with related organizations.

The functions of transport packaging tests in material selection of flexible packages are discussed from four aspects. Firstly, one of the functions of flexible packages is to protect products, and transportation is one of the sectors in product distribution. Therefore the flexible package has to protect the product from hazards of distribution. Secondly, because energy sources decrease and ecological requirements of packaging recycle increase, we should consider how to lower the packaging cost. Thirdly, we will discuss how to reduce the damage during distribution and how to realize the most economical packaging by combining inner and outer packages. At lastly, we will demonstrate how to reduce packaging R&D cost by using low cost testing methods. In addition, transport and exhibition functions of packages, packaging cost reduction starting from testing data, package structure design, material selection, distribution hazards and packaging design improvement, inner and outer package combinations and cost reduction, simulation testing and distribution, etc. will be particularly presented.

PACKAGING INTERNATIONALIZATION and ITS REBUILDING IN CHINA

Chen Xirong
GO Packaging Consultant (External Specialist)
HAIER GROUP

China Packaging Federation, Paper Packaging Committee Vice-Secretary
China Management Science Academe Committee, Director of Specialist Committee
China Printing Technology Association, Soft-Printing Branch Director
Chinese Origin Academe, Professor of Worldwide Foreign Citizens
World Corrugated Packaging Industry, editor
China Farinaceous Industry Annals, editor
Printing Technology, author
China Packaging, specially invited author for the 3rd & 4th China Scientist Forum

For many years, Mr. Chen has worked with China Packaging research to upgrade packaging technology. He is an invited Specialist in the competitive core of Higher Academe for Packaging. He is published in the national first level newspaper and magazine forum, has written more than 500 monographs of academic results, and has won the best national science progeny thesis award. Mr. Chen has provided consultation and technology services for more than 200 major enterprises in the packaging field.

During a period of the transformation to industrialization of packaging in China, the developing trend of electric products packaging is joined with the international market in the field of packaging technology and packaging quality. The three most popular subjects in electronic product packaging for China are:
1. Packaging light-weighting and use of the most
    suitable packaging;
2. Substituting plastic and wood packaging materials
    with paper, and the development of composite
    packaging materials;
3. Unifying packaging standards, and unifying
    purchase orders to enhance the quantity of each
    purchase order.

These methods can produce a complete packaging solution by transforming the traditional manufacturing process. And, they can reduce the packaging cost of every process of the packaging transport line such as package assembly, transportation, storage, etc.

Against the background of economic globalization, the packaging theory and its implementation is increasingly important.

DELIVERING VALUE AND SUSTAINABILITY THROUGH PACKAGING

Ronald Cotterman
Executive Director of Sustainability
SEALED AIR CORPORATION

In his position as Executive Director of Sustainability, Ronald Cotterman is responsible for Sealed Air’s company-wide strategy in sustainable business practices. This global role was created to advance Sustainability initiatives across all of Sealed Air’s business units. His primary internal focus is ensuring alignment of customer needs, manufacturing platforms, business plans and technologies to improve sustainability of products, processes and services. As a member of several external organizations, Ronald is dedicated to promoting sustainability practices within the packaging industry.

Ronald has an undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Florida and a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. He has over 20 years of industrial experience in technology and business development across a diverse range of industries. He has been employed with Sealed Air for the last 10 years and currently resides in Greenville, South Carolina.

Global trends are stimulating an increased emphasis on business sustainability and the environmental impacts of a company’s products, processes and services. Understanding these impacts is an important first step toward improving overall environmental sustainability. When considering packaging, reducing environmental impact can also improve economics through more efficient use of raw materials, reduction in energy in the supply chain and elimination of waste. Therefore both value and sustainability can be enhanced through choice of specific packaging systems.

Companies that are leading in sustainability efforts are actively making changes in the way that packaging is made, used and disposed of. They are also measuring the impact that packaging can have on sustainability by looking across the total life cycle of both packaging and product. Finally, they are engaging in collaborations across the supply chain to achieve desired results.

Examples will be presented to demonstrate the alignment of value and sustainability through the use of packaging systems. These examples will focus on how to quantify impacts by considering material and energy flows for primary and transport packaging as well as the packaged product. In so doing, the packaging system can be optimized to improve overall sustainability and maximize value.

ENERGY ABSORPTION DIAGRAMS of PAPER HONEYCOMB SANDWICH STRUCTURES

Wang Zhiwei
Professor & Doctor Tutor
JINAN UNIVERSITY, PACKAGING ENGINEERING INSTITUTE
Member of the Board of IAPRI (International Association of Packaging Research Institutes).

It is very important to evaluate the cushioning properties of paper honeycomb sandwich structures for optimizing the package design. Energy absorption diagrams are one of the methods to characterize the cushioning properties of materials. In this paper, we investigate the energy absorption and develop the energy absorption diagrams for paper honeycomb sandwich structures. Based on the static compression experiments, the compressive stress-strain curve is simplified into the three sections of linear elasticity, plateau and densification. By considering the structure factors of paper honeycomb, the energy absorption model is obtained and characterized by the thickness-to-length ratio of the honeycomb cell-wall. The theory and experiments show that the compression energy absorption capability increases with the increasing of the thickness-to-length ratio of the honeycomb cell-wall, and a good agreement is achieved between theoretical and experimental energy absorption curves. The suggested method to develop the energy absorption diagram for paper honeycomb sandwich structures can be used to characterize the cushioning properties and optimize the structures of paper honeycomb sandwiches. To the authors' knowledge, the energy absorption diagram of paper honeycomb sandwich structures has not been reported in the literature.

MOLDED FIBER PACKAGING PRODUCTS:
THEIR MARKETS AND CHALLANGES

Joseph Grygny
Chairman
INTERNATIONAL MOLDED FIBER ASSOCIATION
www.imfa.org

Joseph started his career as a test engineer with the General Electric Company and retired about 26 years ago as Marketing & Product Development Mgr. of a large packaging product manufacturing company. He then worked as a packaging consultant and for the United Nations. He founded the not-for-profit "International Molded Fiber Association” (IMFA), thirteen years ago, because of concern for the environment and depleting resources. He has visited molded fiber manufacturers throughout the world, and engaged in research projects to improve products and processes.

In 1990, he was elected President of ISTA for four years. He was inducted into the Packaging Hall of Fame in 1998 by the members of the Institute of Packaging Professionals and admitted to the College of Fellows. He chaired the Ameristar National Packaging Competition for eight years and was a member of the Faculty Advisory Board at the University of Wisconsin -Stout School of Packaging for about 8 years.

Currently he spends all of his time on molded fiber education, research and promotion.

Molded fiber packaging markets are expanding globally, driven principally by concerns for the environment. As a renewable “green” material, it is increasingly replacing many non-renewable packaging products. As with all materials, molded fiber packaging has both positive and negative aspects in market perception, manufacturing, and performance. This presentation defines these conditions with respect to today's packaging marketplace, along with elements needed for growth.