Labeling and Packaging for Hazardous Materials: Compliance and Efficiency

In this assignment content, we discuss compliance labeling for hazardous materials, including one-dimensional barcodes and smart labels or RFID labels. We also explore the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS), which provides a standardized approach to classifying and labeling chemicals. Additionally, we look at material handling, including unit loads, pallets, skids, and alternative materials such as shrink-wrap. Furthermore, we examine various equipment used in material handling, including conveyor systems, lift trucks, and cranes. The content also touches on the importance of planning, standardization, ergonomics, and automation in material handling.

Packaging and Material Handling Lesson
Packaging and Materials Handling
What’s Included:
Review: This module
Learning Objectives:
• To know how product features affect packaging and materials handling
• To familiarize you with packaging fundamentals such as packaging function
labeling
• To appreciate select issues that affect packaging such as environmental pro
and packaging inefficiencies
• To learn about unit loads and the unit load platform
• To identify materials handling principles and materials handling equipment
Presentations: Power Point Presentation or video provides overview of this
material and helps you understand the terms and theories in graphic represe
Read:
• Lecture Notes and eReadings
Product Characteristics
• Physical Characteristics
1 Substance form (solid, liquid, and gas)
2 Density of bulk materials
3 Ability to withstand exposure to elements
4 Respiration
1
◦ Chemical Characteristics
◦ Incompatible products
◦ Products requiring chemicals
2

◦ Characteristics must be made known to consumers
3 Packaging Fundamentals Building-blocks concept
The building-block concept is a key factor in unit loads.
Building blocks have certain dimensions that allow them to
stack or load on a pallet or similar piece of equipment. The
building-blocks hierarchy is important to remember because
each of the different building blocks is inside another and
their total effect must be to protect the product. They function
in a complementary sense.
◦ Smallest unit is consumer package
◦ Each unit is stocked within the next larger one to protect
the product
4 Packaging
◦ refers to materials used for the containment, protection,
handling, delivery, and presentation of goods
5
◦ Serves three general functions
▪ To promote
▪ To protect
▪ To identify (label) the relevant product
• The three general functions of packaging may come into conflict
when say for example, although from a retailing perspective
it might be desirable to have an attractive promotional
message on the outside of a box, when this box is in a
warehouse the same message might make it easier for a
thief to determine quickly which boxes contain the most
valuable items. Promotional and Protective
Functions of Packaging
◦ Protective functions of packaging
▪ Enclose materials
▪ Restrain materials from undesired movement
▪ Separate contents to prevent undesired contact
▪ Cushion contents from outside vibrations and shocks
▪ Support the weight of identical containers stacked

above
▪ Position the contents to provide maximum protection
▪ Provide for uniform weight distribution
▪ Provide exterior surface for labeling
▪ Be tamperproof
▪ Be safe for consumers or others
• A thoughtful examination of the 10 functions would suggest that
not every function is applicable to every package. For
example, tampering tends to be more important with food
and drugs than with, say, paper products. In addition,
separation of the contents to prevent undesired contact is
likely more important with fragile items such as glassware.
Package Testing and Monitoring
◦ A package system requires 3 types of information to design
▪ Severity of the distribution environment
▪ Fragility of the product
▪ Performance characteristics of various cushion
materials
• Various packaging material manufacturers and trade
organizations provide free package testing that attempts to
duplicate shipping hazards such as vibration, dropping,
compression, and rough handling, among others. Actual
monitoring of the environment the package must pass
through can be done by enclosing recording devices within
cartons of the products that are shipped. More sophisticated
devices record over time a series of variables, such as
temperature, humidity, and acceleration force and duration.
◦ Package testing
▪ Vibrations
▪ Dropping
▪ Horizontal impacts
▪ Compression
▪ Overexposure to extreme temperatures or moisture
▪ Rough handling

• LabelingLabeling requirements may differ from country to
country. Failure to comply with labeling requirements could
subject the offending organization to surcharges,
administrative fees, and/or penalty charges. As a general
rule, labeling requirements and enforcement tend to be more
stringent in economically developed countries than in
economically developing countries.
◦ Labeling
▪ Retroflective labels
▪ Batch numbers
▪ Weight
▪ Specific contents
▪ Instructions for use
▪ Information to allow passage through customs
▪ Compliance labeling
◦ One- or two-dimensional bar codes
◦ Smart labels or RFID labels
• Hazardous Materials
◦ Governmental regulations address labeling of hazardous
materials
• Because hazardous materials are increasingly being stored and
transported across country borders, the United Nations (UN)
has played an active role in developing a global system to
classify and label hazardous, especially with respect to the
Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling
of Chemicals (GHS). The GHS provides three key pieces of
information: 1) a symbol; 2) a signal word (e.g., “danger”);
and 3) a hazard statement (“explosion; severe projection
hazard”).
◦ Requirements involve
▪ Labeling
▪ Packaging and repackaging
▪ Placing warnings on shipping documents
▪ Notifying transportation carriers in advance

•
◦ Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling
of Chemicals (GHS) is a global system to classify and
label hazardous materials.
• Issues in Packaging
◦ Plastic
• One of plastic’s most frequently cited shortcomings is the length
of time that it takes to biodegrade, which can be up to
several hundred years. Moreover, the production of plastic
products is dependent on petroleum, which is a diminishing
natural resource (and an extremely costly resource in recent
years). A third environmental concern with plastic packaging
is that sometimes plastic litter unintentionally ends up killing
large numbers of marine animals.
◦ Environmental Protection
◦ Reduce packing materials used
◦ Use packaging materials that are more environmentally
friendly with recycled content
◦ Use reusable containers (closed-loop system)
◦ Retain or support services that collect used packaging and
recycle it (closed-loop system)
◦ Metric System
• One potential challenge for adopting the metric system in the
US is that certain taxes, such as in the liquor industry, were
developed to be applicable to pints, quarts, and other
English units of measure, as opposed to liters and half liters.
Another problem is that packaging and materials handling
might need to be adjusted because cartons and shelving
designed for one system may not be acceptable in the metric
system.
◦ U.S., Liberia, and Myanmar (formerly Burma) are the only 3
countries in the world that do not use the metric system
of measurement
◦ Increasing pressure on U.S. exporters to market their

products overseas in metric units
• Identifying Packing InefficienciesPackaging inefficiency
can have a number of undesirable logistics consequences,
to include increased loss, increased damage, slower
materials handling, higher storage costs, and higher
transportation costs. Reducing packaging inefficiencies can
have a favorable impact on loss, damage, materials
handling, storage and transportation.
◦ Building-blocks concept is useful for analyzing packaging
inefficiencies.
•
◦ Packaging inefficiencies can have a number of undesirable
logistics consequences including:
▪ Increased loss
▪ Increase damage
▪ Slower materials handling
▪ Higher storage costs
▪ Higher transportation costs
• Package’s Influence on Transportation
ConsiderationsPackaging specifications determined by
product density encourage shippers to tender loads in
densities that will make the best use of the equipment’s
weight and volume capabilities. IKEA, a home furnishings
chain, designs its products to be shipped in a dense form. In
addition, carrier specifications for protective packaging
reduce the likelihood of damage to products while they are
being carried; this, in turn, reduces the amount of loss and
damage claims placed against a carrier.
◦ Carrier’s tariffs and classifications influence the type of
packaging and packing methods that must be used.
◦ Carriers established classifications for two main reasons:
▪ Packaging specifications determined by product
density lead to the best use of the equipment’s
weight and volume capabilities

▪ Carrier specifications for protective packaging reduce
likelihood of damage to products thus reducing the
loss and damage claims filed against the carrier
• Unit Loads in Material Handling
◦ A unit load (unitization) refers to consolidation of several
units (cartons or cases) into larger units to improve
efficiency in handling and to reduce shipping costs.
• Source: http://cscmp.org/digital/glossary/glossary.asp
◦ Handling efficiency can be facilitated by mechanical
devices (pallet jack or forklift) as well as by using a
pallet or skid.
•
◦ Advantages
▪ Additional protection
▪ Pilferage is discouraged
▪ More fragile items can be stacked inside the load
▪ Mechanical devices can be substituted for hand
labor
◦ Disadvantages
▪ Provides large quantity that sometimes is of
limited value to resellers dealing in smaller
quantities
▪ Must use mechanical or automated device to
move
• Unit Loads in Material Handling
◦ Basic unit is a pallet or skid
• Wood pallets are relatively inexpensive compared with plastic
and metal pallets. However, plastic and metal pallets have
much greater longevity relative to wood. Metal pallets can
last for over 20 years—a wood pallet might last for one use!
Unlike plastic and metal, wood pallets can break and splinter
and thus pose safety dangers to workers as well as perhaps
necessitating repair costs. Another disadvantage to wood
pallets is that they are much heavier than plastic and metal.

Wood and plastic pallets are much more flammable than
metal.
◦ Can be constructed from wood, wood composites, plastic,
paper, and metal
◦ Each pallet material has advantages and disadvantages
◦ Should be less than 50 pounds
•
◦ Pallet or skid alternatives
▪ Slip sheet
▪ Shrink-wrap
•
◦ Beyond the unit load
▪ Use of load-planning software
▪ Bracing
▪ Inflatable dunnage bags
▪ Load is subjected various forces including
▪ Vibration
▪ Roll
▪ Pitch
◦ Weighing out
• Material Handling
◦ Materials handling refers to the “short-distance movement
that usually takes place within the confines of a building
such as a plant or DC and between a build and a
transportation service provider.”
• Source: John J. Coyle, C. John Langley, Jr., Brian J. Gibson,
Robert A. Novack, and Edward J. Bardi, Supply Chain
Management: A Logistics Perspective, 8th ed. (Mason, OH:
South-Western Cengage Learning, 2009), Appendix 11-A.
◦ How the products are handled depends on whether they
are packaged or in bulk
• Bulk materials are loose rather than in packaged form and are
handled by pumps, shovel devices, conveyor belts, or the
mere force of gravity. One handling characteristic for bulk
materials is density, and this can affect the amount of

product that can be loaded onto a transport vehicle. A
material’s angle of repose is the size of angle that would be
formed by the side of a conical stack of that material; the
greater the angle, the higher the pile of material that can be
placed on a specific land area. Bulk liquids have unique
handling characteristics and their resistance to flow is
measured as viscosity, which can be lowered by increasing
the temperature of a liquid. Gases have unique handling
properties, although most of them are handled within
completely enclosed pipeline systems.
◦ Handling may change the characteristics of the product
• Material Handling Principles10 Material Handling
Principles Include:
• Planning
• Standardization
• Work
• Ergonomic
• Unit load
• Space utilization
• System
• Automation
• Environmental
• 0. Life cycle cost
Source: “The Ten Principles of Material Handling,”
www.mhia.org.
Materials Handling Equipment
• Two categories of handling equipment
• Storage
▪ Shelves
▪ Racks
▪ Bins
• Handling

▪ Conveyor systems
▪ Lift trucks
▪ Carts
▪ Cranes
• The choice of handling equipment can influence the type of
storage equipment.
• The choice of storage equipment can influence the type of
handling equipment.
• Material handling equipment can also be categorized as:
1 Labor intensive
2 Mechanized
3 Automated
• Sufficient volume is needed to justify high cost of automated
equipment
• An organization’s order picking and assembly system can also
influence the type of handling equipment.
In a picker-to-part system, an order picker goes to where a
product is located, such as with a forklift, whereas in a part-to-
picker system the pick location is brought to the picker, such as
with carousels.
1 Picker-to-part systems
2 Part-to-picker systems