Glossary

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acceptable quality level
The maximum percentage or proportion of defective units in a lot or batch that, for the purposes of acceptance sampling, can be considered satisfactory as a process average. Abbreviated AQL.

blister packaging
A type of packaging in which the item is secured between a preformed (usually transparent plastic) dome or "bubble" and a paperboard surface or "carrier." Attachment may be by stapling, heat-sealing, gluing, or other means. In other instances, the blister folds over the product in clam-shell fashion to form an enclosing container. Blisters are most usually thermoformed from polyvinyl chloride, however, almost any thermoplastic can be thermoformed into a blister.

blocking
Material used in packaging and loading to maintain objects in a fixed position during transit by bracing them against each other or against the sides of the container.

bracing
The process of supporting units within a package to prevent damage through movement and/or to distribute the weight on all faces of the container.

CAD/CAM
Acronym for COMPUTER-AIDED DESIGN/COMPUTER-AIDED MANUFACTURING.

clamshell
A blister package in the form of two hinged plastic shells or bubbles. Clamshell blister packaging has the advantage of providing total product visibility. Some clamshells are made to be reclosable.

compression, dynamic
Describes the rapid application of a compressive load, for example, by a clamp truck handling corrugated boxes, or the laboratory determination of box's compressive strength using a stress/strain machine. See also compression strength and compression, static.

compression set
A permanent deformation remaining after a compressive stress is removed. The extent to which a cushioning material fails to recover its original form when a load has been removed from it after being imposed for a given period.

compression, static
The compressive load resulting from a static (nonmoving) load on a container or object. Warehouse loads are said be static loads. See also compression strength, and compression, dynamic.

compression strength
The maximum load that can be applied to a container under specified conditions. Viscoelastic materials such as corrugated board or plastics will have different compression strength test values, depending on how fast the load is applied. The ability of a material or package to resist a force that tends to crush it, measured in newtons or pounds per square inch. |Static compression strength usually refers to a container's ability to withstand a stationary load for a period of time. |Dynamic compression strength is the load at failure when an increasing load is rapidly applied.

container, collapsible
Any container that is capable of being collapsed down to a smaller volume when empty for the purposes of more economical storage, handling, and shipping.

container, nesting
Containers made with sloping sidewalls so they can be nested in each other when empty to conserve space. Also nested containers.

contract manufacturer
An outside company contracted to manufacture or package a product.

corner post
Vertical corner framing of a box or crate.

corrugated
A paperboard consisting of a central member (medium) that has been fluted on a corrugator and to which one or two flat sheets of linerboard have been glued to form single-faced, or singlewall, corrugated board. Doublewall is the combination of two mediums and three facings, and triplewall is the combination of three mediums and four facings. Corrugated board generally is made in one of four flute sizes, designated A, B, C, or E

corrugated board, unlined
Oldest type of corrugated fiber material. Consists of corrugating medium without liners.

corrugated, double-faced
A corrugated board consisting of a medium with a liner attached to each side. More commonly referred to as singlewall board.

corrugated plastic
Corrugated plastic is similar to corrugated fiberboard in its overall geometry. Most commercial products are extruded from polypropylene, although some is laminated similar to fiberboard from three material layers. Corrugated plastic is fabricated into a variety of boxes and totes in a fashion similar to regular corrugated board. It has the advantage of being waterproof, durable, chemically resistant, available in a range of translucent and transparent colors, and having a good strength to weight ratio.

corrugated, doublewall
A corrugated board construction composed of three linerboards and two fluted mediums. The board is stiffer and stronger than singlewall and is used for containing heavier products such as major appliances.

corrugated, triplewall
A corrugated board construction composed of four linerboards separated by three fluted mediums. Triplewall board can be regarded as a substitute for lumber in many packaging applications such as bulk bins and packaging for machinery.

cross-linked
A polymer in which individual molecular chains are linked by side branches to adjacent chains. Cross-linking may be present to varying degrees. A heavily cross-linked polymer is classed as a thermoset plastic.

cushioning
The protection from physical damage afforded to an item by surrounding it with materials that have been designed to absorb the shocks or vibrations caused by external forces. Resilient materials are used for cushioning.

cushioning factor
The ratio of the maximum load per unit area to the energy absorbed per unit volume. It is common practice to establish an optimum (minimum) value of the cushioning factor for a material.

cycle rate
The cycle rate is the number of machine cycles per minute. We denote the number of cycles as N, so the cycle rate is dN/dt. It is not necessarily equal to the run speed of the machine.

cycle time
The period of time from starting one machine operation to starting another (in a pattern of continuous repetition).

die
Any of various sharp cutting forms, rotary or flat, used to cut desired shapes.

die-cut
Any operation in which a form that incorporates sharp cutting edges is pressed onto a substrate to cut out a designed shape.

dunnage
Cushioning materials placed into the interior of a package to protect fragile articles from shock and vibration.

elasticity
The ability of a material to quickly recover its original dimensions after removal of a load that has caused deformation.

fiberboard
Used to describe the tough kraft-based paperboard used in the manufacture of corrugated boxes.

foam, closed-cell
A cellular plastic in which a majority of the cells have no connection to adjoining cells.

foam, polystyrene
A form of expanded polystyrene with open or closed cells depending upon its method of manufacture. Open cells are made by the extrusion process, closed cells are made by steam chest or radio frequency expansion processes. Extruded polystyrene foams are produced by melting polystyrene with a blowing agent in plasticating equipment under heat and pressure and passing through a die into the atmosphere.

foam, polyurethane
Polyurethane foams are made by reacting a polyol with an isocyanate. When the isocyanate exceeds the amount that will react with the polyol and when water is present, the excess isocyanate will react with water to produce carbon dioxide, which expands the mixture. Urethane foams differ from other cellular plastics in that the chemical reactions causing foaming occur simultaneously with the polymer-forming reactions. The density and hardness of the cured foam is governed by the molecular weight of the polyol used. Low-molecular-weight polyols produce rigid foams, and high-molecular-weight polyols produce flexible foams. Auxiliary blowing agents often are used, especially in rigid foams where they improve the insulation values.

foam, preformed
Plastic foam, cut or machined into standard blocks or formed in molds to the contours required for packaging purposes.

fragility
A quantified value of some input, such as vibration, compression, or shock, at which loss of value or damage will occur.

fragility factor
Most commonly, fragility factor is used to describe the shock level, expressed in g, at which some part of the product will be damaged. Fragility factors are used to calculate the area and thickness of shock-absorbing materials when designing protective packaging.

gun, hot-melt
A device used for applying hot-melt adhesives. Some are handheld, others are mounted on fully automatic machinery.

impact resistance
The relative resistance of a material or product to fracture when impacted.

impact strength
A measurement of the energy needed to fracture a material.

International Organization for Standardization
Organization with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, is made up of national standards bodies from countries throughout the world. The U.S.A. Standards Institute is the U.S. member. Its objectives are: 1) To facilitate the exchange of goods and services through the development of internationally accepted standards. 2) To provide the machinery for the development of such international standards. 3) To coordinate the national standards of its members. 4) To issue standards recommendations for voluntary acceptance by its members. 5) To provide for exchange of information among the members concerning international standards of work. 6) To cooperate with other international organizations concerned with related problems. Often referred to by ISO, which derives from the Greek word for equal.

International Safe Transit Association
A trade association based in East Lansing, Michigan, dedicated to reducing damage to goods in transit.

ISO 9000
ISO 9000 series protocol is an international set of documents written by members of a worldwide delegation known as the International Standards Organization Technical Committee 176. Its primary purpose is to harmonize the large number of national and international standards in existence. This series also is intended to be driven by market and customer needs. |The ISO series consists of five main documents: |1) Three core quality system documents, which are models of quality assurance, namely ISO 9001, ISO 9002, and ISO 9003. |2) Two supporting guideline documents, namely ISO 9000 and ISO 9004. |Below is a brief outline of each document. |ISO 9000 (ANSI/ASQC Q90-1987)|Quality Management and Quality Assurance Standards: Guidelines for Selection and Use. |ISO 9001 (ANSI/ASQC Q91-1987) |Quality Systems - Model for Quality Assurance in Design/Development, Production, Installation and Servicing. |Applicable to contractual arrangements, which require design effort and the product requirements are stated principally in performance terms or they need to be established. Confidence in product conformance can be attained by adequate demonstration of the supplier's capabilities in design, development, production, installation, and servicing. |ISO 9002 (ANSI/ASQC Q92-1987) |Quality Systems - Model for Quality Assurance in Production and Installation. |The specific requirements for the product are stated in terms of an established design or specification. Confidence in product conformance can be attained by adequate demonstration of the supplier's capabilities in production and installation. |ISO 9003 (ANSI/ASQC Q93-1987) |Quality Systems - Model for Quality Assurance in final Inspection and Test. |The conformance of the product to specified requirements can be shown with adequate confidence providing that the supplier's capabilities for inspection and testing conducted on the product supplied can be satisfactorily demonstrated on completion. |ISO 9004 (ANSI/ASQC Q94-1987) |Quality Management and Quality System Elements Guidelines.

just-in-time
First used by Toyota in Japan as the "Kanban System", it has been successful in reducing inventory while maintaining high throughput and increased quality.

less-than-truckload
An order that will not fill the minimum standard weight required for truckload freight rates.

mold
The cavity or matrix into which the plastic composition is placed and from which it takes its form. (verb) To shape plastic parts or finished articles by heat and pressure.

molding cycle
The sequence of steps required to produce a plastic part.

monomer
A chemical compound that can react with itself or other monomer(s) to form a polymer.

nesting
Placing containers of various sizes one within another.

olefin
Unsaturated hydrocarbons containing only carbon and hydrogen atoms, and named after the corresponding saturated hydrocarbon by adding "ene" or "ylene" to the stem. For example: ethylene (from ethane) and propylene (from propane).

original equipment manufacturer
A manufacturer of finished product. Abbreviated OEM.

overpack
An outer container designed to enclose and protect one or more less durable inner containers.

package engineering
The activity whereby scientific and engineering principles are applied to solving the problem of functional design, formation, filling, closing, and/or preparation for shipment of containers regardless of type or kind, or the product enclosed therein.

package run cycle
The duration of specific events needed to produce a given amount of quality packages. It consists of the total going-to-going period, which involves change-out and the entire run or producing period. Abbreviated PRC.

pallet
A portable platform on which groups of packages are unitized into a single load to facilitate efficient distribution. Pallets may be made of plastic, metal, fiberboard, or other materials. However, the most common material is still wood.

paper and paperboard
Sheet material produced by the matting of fibers (usually cellulose). Paper and paperboard are nonspecific terms that can be related to either material caliper (thickness) or grammage (weight)

plastic, expandable
A plastic in a form to be made cellular by thermal, chemical, or mechanical means. Common plastics used are polystyrene, olefins, and polyurethane. Commonly referred to as foamed plastic.

plastic, expanded
A plastic that has been made in the form of a foam by expanding it with gases produced by thermal or chemical means. Expanded (cellular) plastics have good insulating properties and their resiliency makes them useful for protective cushioning systems. Most expanded plastics are based on polystyrene, polyurethane, or polyethylene.

polyethylene
A polyolefin composed of polymers of ethylene. It is normally a translucent, tough, waxy solid, which is unaffected by water and by a large range of chemicals.

polyethylene, expanded
Cellular polyethylene having closed, thin-walled cells filled with either air or other gas.

polyethylene, high-density
A hydrocarbon polymer that has linear chains allowing for dense packing resulting in a density between 0.94 and 0.96 or more. High-density polyethylene (HDPE) is economical, can be processed easily by most methods, has good moisture barrier properties, and good chemical resistance.

polyethylene, low-density
Low-density polyethylene (LDPE), linear-low-density polyethylene (LLDPE), and blends or copolymers with other modifiers are usually regarded as one family with similar applications.

polyolefin
A polymer prepared by the polymerization of an olefin(s) as the sole monomer(s). See olefin.

polypropylene
A hydrocarbon polymer polymerized from propylene gas. Polypropylene (PP).

polystyrene
A hard, brittle (unless modified), and exceptionally clear polymer, polystyrene (PS) has good resistance to water, alkaline chemicals, acids, and detergents.

polystyrene, expandable
Polystyrene and polystyrene copolymers supplied as a compound with physical blowing agents, and which can be processed into low density (0.7 to 10.0 pounds per cubic foot) foamed articles. One of the major end-uses is for protective packaging.

quality assurance
A system of activities whose purpose is to provide assurance and show evidence that the overall quality-control function is being accomplished. Often abbreviated QA.

recycled content
The percentage of a material that is composed of recycled material.

regrind
Rejected parts from plastic manufacturing, that have been reclaimed by shredding or granulating. Regrind is usually mixed with virgin compound at a predetermined percentage for remolding. Current usage differentiates between regrind (in-plant recovery) and recycle (recovery after the material has served its purpose).

resin
Most resins are polymers. Often used to describe polymer pellets prior to processing.

reusable
A package or component intended to be used for its original purpose one or more times in an available program.

rigidity
The ability of a material or shape to resist deformation under load. Rigidity is a function of the material's modulus of elasticity and, often more critically, of the object's shape.

safe transit tested
Packaged products that have been tested in accordance with procedures developed by the International Safe Transit Association, East Lansing, Michigan. Such packages may carry the ISTA safe transit tested seal, either printed directly on the package or in the form of a label.

shipper
A shipping container.

shipper, master
A shipping container used to overwrap or contain a number of individual containers. Also master pack.

stability, dimensional
The ability of a material to retain its dimensional shape under given processing or use conditions. The degree to which dimensional changes occur in a particular material under controlled conditions is frequently measured in terms of its expansion and contraction.

stacking factor
A factor intended to relate the compression load experienced in the warehouse (a static load condition) to the compression test as done in a laboratory (a dynamic load condition).

stacking strength
The ability of a container to hold a static load for an extended period as would be found in a warehouse situation.

static load
The force on a package or structure resulting from the mass (weight) resting on it.

test, compression
A method of measuring the ability of a container to resist external compressive loads. Compression tests typically are done on corrugated boxes or other containers that will experience compressive loads in warehousing or distribution.

test, drop
Dropping of a loaded container to determine its resistance to rupture and leaking or to asses its ability to protect the contents from damage. Any test method in which the package is dropped in a specified manner for a specific number of times or until the package fails from impact.

test, impact
A test to determine the behavior of materials when subjected to high rates of loading, usually in bending, tension, or torsion.

test, incline-impact
Determines the resistance of a packaged item to damage from impact. In the test, the container, complete with contents, is positioned on the front end of a dolly that is released from a predetermined point on an inclined set of tracks to strike against a solid wall at the bottom.

test, static compression
A test designed to measure the resistance of a package to a vertical compressive load during storage.

test, vibration
Subjects the container with contents to shaking or vibration and produces, on an accelerated basis, forces similar to those encountered in transportation.

testing, performance
Most commonly used to describe the evaluation of a shipping container or system. The test protocols are designed to determine whether the container or system will carry and protect the product without damage by simulating conditions of the transport and storage environments.

thermoforming
A method of forming plastics where a plastic sheet material is heated to a point where it is soft and formable. The sheet is then formed to the desired shape using vacuum, pressure, mechanical assists, or any combination of these.

vibration
Regular movement about a fixed reference point. The number of movements per second is reported as hertz (Hz), and the distance to either side of the reference point is the double amplitude. Vibrations are present in all methods of transport and can be a source of damaging input. Vibrational damage can be regarded in two broad categories: 1) Damage due to relative motion of one part against another, most commonly observed as scuffing or abrasion. 2) Damage due to resonance conditions, which may be observed as a range of physical damage.

virgin material
Any material that has not been previously used or processed other than that required for its original manufacture.

wood
A large amount of wood is used for pallets, boxes, and crates. The suitability of a particular wood for structural purposes for the most part relates to its stiffness and its ability to hold fasteners, properties directly related to wood density. For purposes of structural quality, woods have been divided into four groups. |Group 1 consists of low-density woods, with low strength, stiffness, and nail-holding ability. These would only be used for single-trip constructions where minimum abuse is expected. Examples of Group 1 woods are aspen, basswood, cedar, pine, and spruce. |Group 2 woods are more durable, although some have a tendency to split when nailed. Examples are Douglas fir, hemlock, larch, and yellow pine. |Group 3 woods are durable and have good nail-holding ability. Examples are ash, soft maple, gum, and sycamore. |Group 4 woods are the most durable and have good nail-holding ability. Their hardness may make fabrication a bit more difficult. Examples are beech, birch, hard maple, hickory, and oak .

wood classifications
Wood as used for boxes, crates, skids, pallets, and other packaging constructions are divided into four classes reflecting their structural performance properties. Briefly these are: |Group 1, softer coniferous and broad-leafed species having moderate strength properties and moderate nail-holding power. For example, aspen, cedar, and spruce. |Group 2, heavier conifers that have greater nail-holding power than group one but are more likely to split. For example, tamarack, hemlock, and southern yellow pine. |Group 3, hardwoods of medium density with good nail-holding capacity and less likely to split. Group 3 woods are most useful for box ends and cleats, and rotary-cut veneers for wirebound and plywood boxes. |Group 4, high-density hardwoods having the greatest shock resistance and nail-holding capacity, but may present some difficulties with respective driving nails. For example, beech, oak, hard maple, ash, and hickory.