Students Claim They Have Designed the Perfect Packing Container

Two Cooper Union engineering students, Henry Wang and Chris Curro, claim the new box design will “revolutionize the cardboard packing industry” as it is more environmentally-friendly, quicker to pack, and easier to open, store and recycle.

While the Rapid Packing Container certainly has some exciting features (and it is clear that Henry and Chris have bright futures ahead of them), this packaging engineer is not sold.

Here’s a few of my thoughts on the new design, and why it may fall short of revolutionary:

• Traditional corrugated boxes are extremely efficient. The student engineers claim that traditional “cardboard” boxes are wasteful, hard to open, and difficult to pack. (Read why the term “cardboard” makes me cringe here.) While the last two statements in their claim are fairly subjective and, if true, indicative a much bigger process problem, I disagree with the first assertion.
  
  From a material usage standpoint, there is hardly any waste in a Regular Slotted Container (RSC). To manufacture a RSC that is 12 inches by 8 inches by 6 inches, it requires 600 square inches of corrugated material. The final product contains 577 square inches of material, which means only 3.7% of the material is unused or wasted. In contrast, a Rapid Packing Container of the same size requires 1,133 square inches of corrugated material, and creates 47.9% waste.

Two-dimensional views of each layout make it easy to see how much waste is produced.

• Scalability is a must for real world applications. The jig is a nice feature to speed up the set-up process. But, can you imagine how this would work in a facility that ships hundreds of SKUs in all different shapes and sizes? Each packing station or line would need at least a dozen jigs to accommodate every possible box size. This diminishes the practicality of the Rapid Packing Container for large operations.
• Distribution trumps design. The tapeless, easy-open features of the Rapid Packing Container are appealing, but if the box really is   that easy to open, it may introduce a number of distribution challenges. How will the box perform when it travels through multiple conveyor systems or when it is manually handled, tossed, dropped, and stacked? It reminds me that ASTM D-1974 (Standard Practice for Methods of Closing, Sealing, and Reinforcing Fiberboard Boxes) exists for a reason. It is imperative that shipping cases remain closed during distribution and transport.

That being said, the Rapid Packing Container may be a good fit for a small or niche business, such as a bakery or boutique. And, I am impressed by the efforts of Henry and Chris, and look forward to seeing more from the next generation of engineers.

Source: Packing Matters
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