Packaging Industry

Packaging materials: for protection and marketing

Packaging serves both product protection and – equally important – marketing purposes. A package determines the first impression of a customer, and is designed as a barrier that shelters the product from mechanical and environmental factors, thus improving shelf life.

Packages should not interact with the products inside. Also, they have to comply to ergonomic requirements (for transport and logistics) as well as aesthetic and sensual standards (regarding look, smell and feel). All at the lowest price possible. Often, packaging materials consist of complex layer stacks, such as laminated foils and bags, or carton with special functions.

Packaging problems unraveled

We help manufacturers and suppliers in the packaging industry with failure analysis and troubleshooting of their products. Also, we are able to support their research and development projects.

Dedicated instrumentation enables us to unwrap the composition of composite packaging materials and to analyze both the effectiveness of the barrier function and the absence of chemical reactions on ppb level.

A wide range of material testing methods quantifies mechanical durability aspects and required protection against environmental factors. In the past, we’ve carried out the analyses and tests below, but they are by no means an exhaustive list.

analysis of scratches that interleave paper caused on a sensitive surface
root cause analysis of delamination of a multi-layered bag
determination of concentration of inks in non-direct food application (both barrier and take-off)
failure analysis of metal barcodes on re-usable medical pouches after autoclave treatment
failure analysis of adhesives under high temperature
determination of individual layer thickness in composite laminate foils
measurement of the UV protection of jerry can material (for inks)
vapor barrier performance testing of laminated bags
identification of bad smell from a package