A DUAL CASE STUDY<br>Reducing Supply-Chain Incidents and Lowering Surcharges with ‘Smart' Packaging
Inexpensive paint-can locking accessories pay dividends as loss-management tools
Five boxes of tuxedos are ruined at an express courier's sort center when paint cans leak from an adjacent package on a conveyer belt. Combustible solvents, not labeled as dangerous goods, reach a flash point as first responders approach an overturned tractor-trailer on fire. Several pails of formaldehyde are accidentally dropped in a university storage room, sending two workers to the hospital and prompting the evacuation of 300 students and faculty.
Although catastrophic events involving the transportation of dangerous goods are thankfully rather rare, less-severe incidents can cause personal injury, significant delays, much inconvenience and needless expense. Ironically, most supply-chain occurrences are avoidable when shippers comply with prescribed government regulations and supplier packing instructions and sometimes use a little "TLC," common sense and packaging beyond that required by law.