Where does your product face its greatest risk?
There are many points of risk for thermally sensitive products along the logistics chain. Wilpak Group International has identified the top 12 risk points that face manufacturers, distributors and logistics managers.
Do you know where your risk points are?
Manufacturing
The start of the supply chain for temperature sensitive products and therefore risk assessment and contingency planning is critical to ensure products are delivered to customers with no excursion or damage.
Movement
Any time goods are moved the risk of damage arises so the more frequent the movement, the greater the potential for damage such as from production line to short term storage, within the warehouse, on the loading bay, during transport, at the point of delivery.
Packaging
When considering what packaging to use for temperature sensitive goods consider this: If your packaging works, it’s cheap, if it doesn’t, then it’s expensive. As always, it’s a matter of weighing up the value of the products against the cost of the right packaging.
Storage – Warehouse Packaging
An assessment of risks for storing temperature sensitive
goods as they come off the production line should include movement and placement within the facility, air flow, potential for delays or changes in temperature when loading/unloading.
Storage – Short Term
What is short term storage? Is it 4-6 hours, a day, a week, a month or longer? In conjunction with the issue of time the risks of how and where the goods will be stored also needs to be assessed.
On The Dock – Loading
Loading (and unloading) is high risk for temperature sensitive goods with potential for damage, the possibility of delays resulting in goods sitting on the loading bay or tarmac, and the likelihood of truck doors being left open allowing hot or cold air to enter.
Storage – Customer
An assessment of risks for storing temperature sensitive goods should include movement and placement within the facility, air flow, potential changes in temperature when loading/unloading, and how long the goods will be stored.
On The Dock – Cross Docking
An integral element within the supply chain but high risk due to potential excursion or damage during inbound transport, unloading, screening, sorting, short term storage, reloading and outbound transport.
Time
Any delay in production, packing, loading, shipping or delivery of temperature sensitive products creates the risk of excursion, so does the value of the products outweigh the cost of protecting them during the time they are exposed to risk?
Shipping
Whether shipping by road, air, sea or rail there is always the risk of excursion if temperature sensitive goods are not packed or handled as required to maintain them within the specified temperature range.
Warehousing
When warehousing temperature sensitive products the risk is in where they are stored. Up near the roof where temperatures can be hotter? In the path of warm or cold air flow? In temporary space and in the way of forklift traffic?
Weather
Temperature sensitive products are at risk of excursion from changes in both hot and cold temperature so from the arctics to the tropics the only way to reduce risk and prevent excursion is to ensure your goods have thermal protection during storage and transport.
