Packaging
Packaging is the science, art and technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution, storage, sale, and use.
Packaging can be described as a coordinated system of preparing goods for transport, warehousing, logistics, sale, and end use.
The first usage of paper for packaging was sheets of treated mulberry bark used by the Chinese to wrap foods as early as the first or second century BC.
[3] The usage of paper-like material in Europe was when the Romans used low grade and recycled papyrus for the packaging of incense.
The manufacturing of tinplate was the monopoly of Bohemia for a long time; in 1667 Andrew Yarranton, an English engineer, and Ambrose Crowley brought the method to England where it was improved by ironmasters including Philip Foley.
With the discovery of the importance of airtight containers for food preservation by French inventor Nicholas Appert, the tin canning process was patented by British merchant Peter Durand in 1810.
He sold his patent in 1812 to two other Englishmen, Bryan Donkin and John Hall, who refined the process and product and set up the world's first commercial canning factory on Southwark Park Road, London.
[13] In 1858, another lever-type opener of a more complex shape was patented in the United States by Ezra Warner of Waterbury, Connecticut.
[14] Commercial paper bags were first manufactured in Bristol, England, in 1844, and the American Francis Wolle patented a machine for automated bag-making in 1852.
Packaging advancements in the early 20th century included Bakelite closures on bottles, transparent cellophane overwraps and panels on cartons.
As additional materials such as aluminum and several types of plastic were developed, they were incorporated into packages to improve performance and functionality.
[17] As of 2003[update], the packaging sector accounted for about two percent of the gross national product in developed countries.
[18] In 2019 the global food packaging market size was estimated at USD 303.26 billion, exhibiting a CAGR of 5.2% over the forecast period.
Growing demand for packaged food by consumers owing to quickening pace of life and changing eating habits is expected to have a major impact on the market.
For consumer packaging, symbols exist for product certifications (such as the FCC and TÜV marks), trademarks, proof of purchase, etc.
Some requirements and symbols exist to communicate aspects of consumer rights and safety, for example the CE marking or the estimated sign that notes conformance to EU weights and measures accuracy regulations.
In the European Union, products of animal origin which are intended to be consumed by humans have to carry standard, oval-shaped EC identification and health marks for food safety and quality insurance reasons.
Manufacturers and packagers must have effective quality assurance procedures and accurate equipment; even so, there is inherent variability in all processes.
These three core technologies serve to enable the business functions in the process of shipping containers throughout the distribution channel.
The design criteria, performance (specified by package testing), completion time targets, resources, and cost constraints need to be established and agreed upon.
When the distribution system includes individual shipments by a small parcel carrier, the sorting, handling, and mixed stacking make severe demands on the strength and protective ability of the transport package.
Packaging processes, labeling, distribution, and sale need to be validated to assure that they comply with regulations that have the well being of the consumer in mind.
An effective quality management system and Verification and Validation protocols are mandatory for some types of packaging and recommended for all.
The traditional "three R's" of reduce, reuse, and recycle are part of a waste hierarchy which may be considered in product and package development.
Choosing packaging machinery includes an assessment of technical capabilities, labor requirements, worker safety, maintainability, serviceability, reliability, ability to integrate into the packaging line, capital cost, floorspace, flexibility (change-over, materials, multiple products, etc.
