New Brighton, PA – SCA Packaging North America has introduced an innovative packaging system for shipping fragile cathode ray tubes that reduces damages.
The pack was engineered to package cathode ray tube (CRT) components from the manufacturing site in Columbus, OH to the assembly plant in Mexico and delivered a significant cost savings with damage reduction, freight savings, and program maintenance costs.
Cathode ray tubes are typically constructed of glass funnels and glass face panels and are inherently fragile. Therefore, in transporting CRT components, careful packaging is vital in insuring components are transported without breakage or surface abrasion.
SCA Packaging North America packaging engineers understood the current distribution environment for shipping glass CRT funnels and the normal methods of shipment, but were convinced that the industry needed a new method for protecting and shipping their products.
Reusable thermoformed plastic trays or corrugated cartons have typically been used in the past for transport of CRT components. Corrugated cartons require substantial labor in assembly, loses considerable protection strength in the rough handling and humid distribution environment, and must be coated to reduce abrasion. Plastic trays tend to scratch the surfaces of CRT components over long trailer rides due to the plastic tray not conforming to the CRT components surfaces very closely, causing excessive movement between the two.
Using ProE design software and solid models of the glass, SCA engineered the optimal pack to fit the individual pieces of glass, utilizing expanded polystyrene (EPS) for its excellent cushioning properties. This new approach to shipping glass CRT funnels exhibited creativity and innovation in solving a packaging problem. As such, a patent has been filed and is in the process of implementation.
The pack eliminates abrasion and is significantly lighter in weight. The pack consists of a base, center, and top portion. The base is engineered to fit on a standard pallet with four cells sized to snugly fit four CRT funnels placed face-down with neck upward and spaced apart to prevent damage during transport. The center portion fits on top of the layer of four funnels situated in the base. Grooves molded into topside of the center portion allow for another layer of four funnels. This layering process can be repeated so that multiple layers can be packaged together.
The flat surface of the top portion allows unit loads to be stacked in warehousing. The underside of the top portion has four cavities configured and sized to receive the necks of the face-down funnels as well as interlock into the center portion to provide additional top to bottom strength. Once assembled each pack is then stretched wrapped to seal out moisture and dirt.
After funnels are removed from the pack at their destination in Mexicali, the foam packaging materials are sent to the SCA manufacturing facility in nearby Tijuana, Mexico. The foam is then recycled into packaging materials for finished television tube packs, which the customer uses to ship to the final assembly facility in Juarez, Mexico.
SCA’s manufacturing facility in Juarez retrieves the packs and recycles them again. The material is then used to manufacture packaging for the finished television that is shipped to consumers. This has resulted in a significant reduction in material use.
Additionally, the economic benefit of loading more glass per trailer has resulted in less trailer loads required per year from the glass manufacturing facility in Columbus, Ohio to the facilities in Mexico.
The packaging system was awarded a 2004 AmeriStar award for packaging excellence by the Institute of Packaging Professionals.
SCA Packaging NA, formerly Tuscarora Incorporated, custom designs and manufactures protective packaging, material handling and components for a wide range of consumer and industrial products utilizing a variety of materials that include molded and die-cut expanded foam plastics, specialty and heavy-duty corrugated paperboard, wood, and thermoformed plastics, used singularly or in combination. SCA Packaging NA serves customers from over 35 manufacturing facilities regionally located throughout the United States and Mexico and is part of SCA’s global protective packaging network that includes plants in Europe and Asia. SCA Packaging’s customers include manufacturers in the high technology, telecommunications, consumer electronics, automotive, appliances, and pharmaceutical industries.
For more information on SCA, visit www.scapackagingna.com
New Brighton, PA SCA Packaging North America
For further information please contact Rachel Coltin, SCA Packaging North America / [email protected] Phone: 724-843-8200
SCA Packaging NA
800 Fifth Avenue
New Brighton, PA 15066
Ph: 724-843-8200
Fax: 724-843-4845
www.scapackagingna.com
