Distribution Testing

Purpose of Distribution Testing

• To evaluate the ability of a package system to protect the product from common hazards.
• To determine compliance with company, customer, or government specifications
• To qualify new vendors for components or subassemblies.
• Confidence in quality of product received by end user

Test Types

Impact

• A package may see a various types of impacts that can affect the product. Depending on whether the impact covers a large surface area or a small surface area (concentrated) , can change the integrity of the package

Compression

• Compression is the top-load force a package system will experience in a warehousing environment or distribution by use of LTL or small parcel carriers. A package system needs to be designed to withstand both a dynamic distribution and stationary storage environments.

Vibration

• Vibration is a critical testing element; it simulates vibrations a package system will experience in transportation or the in-use environment. By controlling the forced vibration both types of excitations (random and harmonic) can be simulated to test a package system thoroughly. This information can then be used to evaluate the package’s design.

Altitude

• Altitude may be important to package systems due to the different methods used in today’s shipping environment. Protective packaging can be affected by changes in ambient pressures, which could adversely affect the protection provided for the product.