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Damaged packages arriving at your customer’s location can occur at multiple points during the journey. Inefficient conveyor systems can damage product during the last mile deliveries and the result can be costly and detrimental to customer confidence.

Causes of Damage in the Processing Facility

Crushed parcel issues can be caused by merge jams, transition points, elevation changes, drops from chutes or sortation discharges, Bombay style sorters dropping cartons into gaylord boxes, manual plows, pushers, guard rails, changes from roller to belt surfaces, wrong belt surfaces, and carton tipping. Cartons and plastic totes can be crushed by the backpressure on declining gravity conveyors. The force asserted by gravity given the angle of the decline compounded by the weight of content inside each individual tote creates potential product damage.

Why Damage Prevention Matters

Lost Revenue
Damaged merchandise equates to a direct loss in sales revenue and profits. The process of inspection, disposition, replacement, repackaging, and transportation is costly and time-consuming.

Employee Safety
Employees face safety issues when processing returned parcels that may contain broken glass, sharp metals, and flammable or dangerous chemicals. A company must take steps to ensure the safety of its employees by using appropriate PPE and other protective measures.

Impacts to Customer Service
A damaged parcel can cause irrevocable damage to the reputation of the business. There is no “sorry” that is sincere enough when a damaged parcel contains a handmade gift from grandma, a ruined wedding dress, or a family heirloom. Now a team of customer service and loss prevention associates will have to be deployed in attempts to calm the outraged client and remedy the situation.

Damages to the Sortation System
In a distribution center or a shipping center, a damaged box can cause major havoc to the conveyor system. The contents of an open carton can spill onto the conveyors causing damage to belts, rollers, motors, and other associated equipment. This type of damage can contribute to a reduction of the equipment’s life expectancy and emergency shutdown. The domino effect impacts production time and could potentially cripple a sortation system and in turn, impact the entire distribution center.

Preventing Product Damage

Material Handling and Packaging
Physical handling of the products by the associates is an important part of damage prevention. Provide sufficient training and supervision for the associates. Each carton should be handled with care. Use the proper “hand to surface” handling techniques where each package is grasped with two hands, on the opposite corners, and control is maintained until it is gently placed onto the next surface. With proper associate training and packing standards, merchandise damage can be mitigated.

Proper Packaging and Packing Standards
Proper packaging of the merchandise in the boxes are another important part of the process. The sturdiness of a box or tote and the packing material minimize the chances of damaging the carton and its content. The empty void inside the carton should be filled with packaging paper or air pouches. Arrow labeling must be facing up to avoid fluid spillage.

Proper Equipment Usage Within the Conveyor System
Understand your conveyor system and evaluate areas causing damage. The use of equipment appropriate for your packaging needs to help minimize and possibly eliminate

• Conveyors with accumulation belts, motorized driven roller belts, or gravity belts with brakes can help eliminate back pressure.
• Control the speed of the conveyor belts including acceleration and deceleration.
• Use photo eye sensors and controls to maintain proper gapping at merges and transitions. Use belt aligners to minimize the impact of pushers and plows.
• Minimize height changes where possible and provide softer transitions.
• Ensure the material of the belt has the proper grip to support the content.
• Use conveyors with the proper roller centers based on the size of the cartons.

Preventative Maintenance and Equipment Assessment
Scheduled maintenance on the system can reduce unplanned system shutdowns. Equipment assessments for problematic areas should also be performed to avoid costly downtime and provide the opportunity to review if the most efficient processes are in place. As a systems integrator, TriFactor can perform a needs analysis on an existing system to identify issues and provide an engineered solution that is right for your business. Other capabilities include new system design and re-engineering of existing systems to help companies adapt to today’s growing retail model while continuing to serve their traditional base effectively.