Packaging Laboratory 2.0 – Breaking New Ground

DIN, ISTA and ASTM sound more like they would involve precise measurements and the occasional complex test report; however, they also include those stress tests that can be so much fun – not just for children. For example, in the tensile and compression testing machine, the researchers test pallets, pallet cages, containers and unit loads (e.g., a pallet packed with stacked cardboard boxes) for anti-slip properties and load capacity/deflection in high-bay and floor storage. Or, to put it more simply, boxes, containers and unit loads are placed between two metal plates and then crushed. The blocks and feet that containers and pallets stand on undergo the same procedure. Pallets made from a wide variety of materials are also bent until they break. In addition, the lab has a precision drop machine and a drop hook that researchers can use to drop test objects from heights of up to 4 meters, in order to assess how the robustness of a pallet or cardboard box is affected if it falls on its corner, for example. Researchers in the lab can also make use of four climate chambers of up to 12 square meters in size to imitate different temperature and humidity conditions as well as constant stresses. In these chambers, the test objects can be exposed to temperatures ranging between 45 °C and +140 °C and to relative humidities of 10 to 95 percent, depending on the researchers’ needs, before going through additional tests. Other lab equipment includes two vibrating tables for simulating the vibrations and dynamic vibration stress that affect packaged goods or unit loads when they are transported by road, rail or air. “The tests not only ensure that the packaging and load carriers are robust and reliable, but also help avoid expensive plant shutdowns, customer complaints and the use of oversized, expensive load carriers,” explains Menting. 

At the heart of the Packaging Laboratory is the Horizontal Impact Test System (HITS). The only testing machine of this exact kind worldwide, the HITS was developed and manufactured in the USA especially for the Packaging Laboratory and has been in operation since 2012. Test objects weighing up to 1,500 kg can be subjected to actual transportation stresses on its 17 meter test track. The HITS provides a very precise simulation of horizontal stresses, such as those that occur when trucks drive around corners, during emergency braking or when coupling railcars. This allows the researchers to come up with ways of saving material and costs when putting unit loads together, and of improving safety during transportation. “We conduct tests on packaging from every kind of industry here – there was one unfortunate incident where we tried to simulate acceleration stress on sugar and ginger ale on the HITS, and everything tipped over right at the very start. There was sticky stuff all over the rails and in every crack, so there’s definitely been a build-up in there over the years,” says Menting. The machine probably still tastes sweet to this day.  

The Packaging Laboratory’s portfolio of tried-and-tested equipment also includes forklift trucks, pallet trucks and roller conveyors, which can be used to carry out driving and handling tests, like driving over bumps, braking and handling cargo roughly, under realistic conditions. The roller conveyor track can be used to establish how constant stresses – from abrasion to cracks and breaks – affect load carriers and unit loads. The wetting agent bath tests how load carriers for the hygiene sector (e.g., H1 hygienic pallets) behave after being dipped in hot soapy water. The results are recorded using cutting-edge precision measurement tools and camera technology, such as digital cameras that take slow-motion videos, electronic distance measuring devices and data loggers for recording temperature, humidity and acceleration.

Ralf Wunderlich, technical director of the Packaging Laboratory and a real “old hand” in his field, brings over 30 years of experience to the lab, along with very extensive knowledge. Every day, he passes on the fruits of his experience to young packagers and supports them as they carry out a wide range of tests and routine lab work. He has already trained many students and current employees in this way, but Wunderlich himself also feels the benefits of this collaboration. When it comes to research and sensor technology, the younger generation is one step ahead, so the team members complement each other perfectly. This means the Packaging Laboratory, which underwent extensive modernization and restructuring in 2012, is constantly adapting to the latest technological developments. As such, it values tradition and innovation to an equal degree. “We have yet to completely exploit the lab’s full potential – in fact, we are only really discovering what it can do now, for example, by triggering the same collision 100 times on a roller track so that an AI system can be trained on the motion or acceleration data,” reports Lukas Lehmann, the packagers’ team lead. He is referring to Pal2Rec, a research project that focuses on sensor-based logistical activity recognition for (Euro-)pallets and aims to detect logistical events (shocks, stops, etc.) based on movement data. But one thing at a time – what’s the background to this project?

These days, packaging has to do more than ever before. It must not only protect its contents, but also be environmentally friendly, cost-effective and user-friendly. “Smart packaging” has integrated sensors that make it possible to capture and evaluate data on the location, condition and availability of goods in real time. In recent years, it has also become increasingly common to equip pallets with codes and sensors, in order to unlock the hidden potential that these technologies hold for increasing transparency and efficiency in the supply chain. That’s the theory, at least. But as Julian Brandt, project manager of Pal2Rec, points out: “Researching smart pallets is nothing new – the trick is to make something out of that data.” Pallets are the unsung heroes of logistics. These simple wooden frames transport untold quantities of goods from A to B and they have been indispensable for decades. But what if these pallets could do more than just carry cargo? This is exactly the question that the Pal2Rec research project, which was launched in February 2024, aims to answer. Pallets equipped with sensors can record not only their own movements, but also falls, shocks, tilting movements and information on how they are accelerating. This allows for detailed insights into common transportation processes. When a pallet is put into or removed from storage, for example, the sensors record these events and provide valuable data for analysis.

The researchers are hard at work in their lab: carrying out tests, comparing various sensors, recording videos and evaluating data. Pallets with integrated sensors travel around specially designed courses, and the resulting measurements are then matched with the video recordings and evaluated. The videos are later used to train an AI system to automatically recognize and classify the movement patterns. What is unique here is that the pallets do not require an external source of information. They are self-sufficient and collect their data themselves. All you need then is a suitable program to process the data and turn it into something usable. The data collected by the pallets is invaluable to the logistics industry. “It not only allows us to track transportation processes, but also helps to detect anomalies and damage. This means we can intervene at an early stage if something goes wrong,” explains Brandt. Currently, intralogistic materials handling is an absolute black box: Pallets go in intact, loaded with goods, and eventually emerge at the other end of the handling process and reach the customer – damaged, battered, broken. Pal2Rec is giving us a look inside this black box for the first tim

uined runners, bashed blocks, broken boards: Many companies are familiar with the issue of the pallets entering the handling process undamaged and coming out again after 10 kilometers looking like they have aged ten years. Since the Pal2Rec solution can also help here, the packagers have created a prototype for this problem in parallel to the research project. This prototype can be fed directly into the handling process at the customer site as a mobile test unit; the data it collects can be used to analyze possible abnormalities. Here’s how it works: A battery-powered pallet equipped with measuring technology runs through a company’s normal cycle (production, storage, transportation) and records movement and acceleration data, including the shocks it is exposed to during the process. At the same time, a 360° camera takes pictures to capture the detail of these critical moments. Synchronized time stamps allow the recorded shocks to be matched precisely with the camera images, so that critical points throughout the handling process can be located accurately. Based on this, the specific problem areas can be analyzed and gradually optimized to reduce – or, in a best-case scenario, avoid – damage to the pallets effectively.

The scenario described above only utilizes a small part of Pal2Rec’s potential – but it still represents a very practical use case where the technology could already be applied. Once the current feasibility study is completed in October 2024, there are plans to bring the solution into broader application in collaboration with various logistics companies and industry players, so the system can undergo more extensive practical testing. The project team’s main aim is to improve sensor technology and extend data collection to all areas of intralogistics, in order to enable identification of logistics activities. The German Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV) is providing 200,000 euros in funding for the project as part of its mFUND innovation initiative. The project partners, Fraunhofer IML and the Chair of Materials Handling and Warehousing at TU Dortmund, are currently applying for follow-up funding.

The measuring systems used in Pal2Rec are also being used outside of the research project and perfectly complement the lab’s existing, tried-and-tested equipment. This opens up new potential uses and possible areas of application: Previously, the lab’s research focused more on whether packaging gave goods adequate protection. Now, this measuring technology will make it possible to measure the effects on the goods themselves as well. In other words, the sensors can not only be attached to the outside of the packaging or on the load carrier to measure the forces acting there, but also directly inside the box, on the actual goods. Alternatively, a 3D-printed replica can be placed inside the box instead of the goods. “We used to look at the packaging system. Has the pallet held up, has the box held up, has the carton held up, has the unit load held up – yes/no, and then we’d look inside: Is the product damaged/is the product undamaged. Now we can draw conclusions as to why it is no longer intact,” explains Lukas Lehmann. This is particularly important for goods or liquids that are at risk of breaking, but also for delicate objects such as medical devices or sensitive measuring equipment, which can be damaged by even the smallest vibrations. The team at the Packaging Lab always know which vibrations affect the packaging systems during the tests, because they adjust the intensity themselves and take regular measurements to see whether the vibrations they set off have reached the packaging and unit loads. “In the past, however, we did not know exactly what was happening inside the actual packaging, because there was often a cardboard box, a layer of padding, perhaps another box and the product packaging in the way. We didn’t know whether the packaging system was really absorbing the vibrations or shocks the way it is supposed to, and ultimately, it’s all about protecting the goods,” says Lehmann. With their state-of-the-art measuring system, the packagers finally know for sure.