At the ISTA Forum’s TempPack in Houston, Lee Menszak, associate director, engineering at Merck, shared tips and considerations for qualifying pallet-sized shippers, where the risk is often much greater than that of a small parcel-sized shipper.
“Large shippers are different than small shippers for a variety of reasons. The ones that I would point out the most are that the payloads are larger, they are expensive, and they would be difficult and time-consuming to replace. So it's important that you get it right the first time, and that you have a robust solution,” said Menszak.
He also highlighted that large shippers have longer pack-out durations, larger temperature gradients within the payload space, and a greater number of closure points during assembly, among other factors.
Menszak's tips included:
1. Don't ignore regional user requirements (including safety)
2. Thou shalt know thy shipper
3. TOCS is a user requirement
4. Rationale is a neglected area
5. Test for shipper-to-shipper variation
Get the rationale for each tip at the full story here.