Equipment damage: 8 causes of products breaking in transit

Unlike B2C operations, there are in fact a couple of ways that business to business suppliers and industrial companies can suffer from transit damage.

Firstly – and as with virtually any seller of goods – products that are damaged in transit are returned, either for a full refund or replacement.

This leads to considerable cost in terms of the return shipping, having damaged stock that potentially is written off, sending out a new item, the admin surrounding this and also the negative impact it can have on your company’s reputation.

Secondly, and something which is often overlooked, is that equipment, parts or components damaged in transit can lead to a significant amount of wasted time.

Secondly, and something which is often overlooked, is that equipment, parts or components damaged in transit can lead to a significant amount of wasted time.

For example, if you have field engineers arriving on site with specialist tools or parts that are damaged, they are not able to do their job (wasting time, causing delays and again damaging reputation).

Similarly, if you are part of another manufacturers supply chain, components that you supply to them that are damaged can slow their own production lines (or even halt it in extreme cases), affecting not only their operational productivity but also the relationship between your businesses.

Many specialist tools and equipment – and even components for specific industries – can be sensitive to vibration.

Whilst it is inescapable that every mode of transit subjects your shipment to some level of vibration, it is important to determine what is known as the “natural frequency” of your items and compare this with the vibration characteristics of your chosen packaging.

However, the highest risk of damage is observed when the vibrations created during transit coincide with the natural frequency of the item (or its’ critical components) which then causes resonant frequency vibration excitation.

It is therefore important to assess any packaging material (for example foam inserts) and judge (or test) whether the material will perform in direct coupling (i.e. unchanged vibration), attenuation (decreased vibration) or amplification (increased vibration).

Failure to do so could result in your specialist components, or highly calibrated equipment, arriving at its destination damaged or impaired.

Luckily, specialist foams such as Plastazote® and even Stratocell can be used to create packaging and inserts to provide the optimum level of protection from vibration for specific items.

Moisture can take the form of leaks, spillages, rain and even atmospheric conditions (i.e. condensation). All can prove fatal for your products or equipment.

This is particularly true for any items that feature or rely on electronic components for their usual operations. The reasons for this are two-fold.

Firstly, water conducts electricity. What this means when moisture gets into your equipment’s electronics, is that the water creates short circuits, effectively re-routing the power current to paths of lower resistance (to somewhere it is not meant to go). If this in itself does not stop the item working, the subsequent overloading of specific components will.

Secondly, even if the power source was not present / active during the exposure to moisture, and the device or part is fully dried out, the corrosion caused by the water when in contact with various connectors and other elements can prevent the power current flowing correctly.

The other point to bear in mind is that you may be supplying parts or products that feature a decorative surface that may become damaged by contact with water (think high-end fabrics or automotive cabin components). This “cosmetic” damage can be just as costly depending on the circumstances.

As a result, there are now a wide range of specialist waterproof cases available, all with IP ratings that will ensure any moisture will not be able to penetrate the case (even if submerged for prolonged periods).

Dust is another factor that has particularly serious consequences for any equipment that relies on electronics.

Firstly, dust inhibits the movement of air. As such, any equipment or product that uses fans for cooling can be negatively affected, overheating and placing a strain on components before likely failure.

Secondly, dust attracts moisture. If dust is present within a component or part, moisture is able to adhere to it (whereas it would otherwise not have been able to) and begin causing damage as detailed previously (corrosion, short circuits etc.).

Finally, even small amounts of dust may result in inaccurate or false readings, particularly in highly calibrated equipment. This can be particularly serious in industries such as medical, research and precision manufacturing).

As with moisture damage, this is another reason why IP rated equipment cases are increasingly used to protect specialist equipment in transit.

Also known as electrostatic discharge (ESD), static has been around forever. However, it is only with the increased use of electronics and equipment that relies on these that it has become an issue.

In layman’s terms, ESD is a tiny version of lightning. As current dissipates through an object, it is seeking the easiest path to ground to equalise. Whilst this can often be through the metal frame of a tool or component, it can also be through integrated circuits and boards.

Whilst this may not necessarily result in damage, the static can burn holes (sometimes visible to the naked eye) and cause heat damage to the surrounding area.

Over time, repeated instances of ESD like this will degrade equipment’s internal components over time, at best shortening its usable life or at worst causing instant, catastrophic failure.

There are various forms of packaging that provide protection from ESD, which includes the outer packaging as well as specialist inserts (i.e. anti static foam) which can be used to channel any harmful charges to safety.

Whilst humidity raises similar issues to those detailed above regarding moisture ingress, what can also cause damage to tools and components is temperatures.

Extreme heat can cause parts to become pliable and even melt, whilst low temperatures can cause materials to become brittle and degrade. This can also damage components such as led displays and screens.

However, subjecting your products or parts to these extremes is actually fairly rare (unless of course, you export specialist items for research or military purposes – to name just two). Another way that temperature can cause damage is exposure to frequent changes.

This can cause items to expand and contract as they heat and cool. Whilst this may well be within operational tolerances, it can weaken connections and structures, eventually leading to their failure. At a less severe level, these changes can cause calibrated items to return inaccurate data or recordings too.

This is why specific items may need to be shipped using insulated containers or packaging, in order to mitigate the effects on the equipment or parts.

Although this arguably falls under shock and vibration, as it is a factor that can be controlled it has been included on this list.

It is also one of the most common ways for your equipment or products to become damaged.

And whilst it may be easy to blame couriers and shipping companies (who admittedly are facing the increased challenge of growing e-commerce order fulfilment), it could just as easily be your customers or staff causing the problems.

For example, do your field engineers or service technicians simply chuck the case of tools into their vehicle when they have finished their job? Does the team loading orders onto your lorries or transport know the value (or fragility) of the items?

If you are renting out equipment do your customers take time and care to repack it before returning?

All of these scenarios could be leading to equipment damage.

The only real solution is well-designed packaging or shipping cases that can only be packed in one way, offers protection from mishandling and is tailored to the specific application or equipment.

This leads to the final point – that the single easiest factor to be able to control equipment damage is how your package your items.

For example, if you are sending out extremely high value, or fragile products that cost thousands of pounds, then corrugated cardboard packaging is unlikely to the best solution.

It is worth thinking about the cost of packaging vs the cost of having to replace returned items or faulty equipment.

If a protective case with custom foam costs £300 to provide the optimum level of protection, but the cost of replacing a specialist part would cost £5,000 (or more), then it does not make sense to under-specify the packaging.

When you also factor in the costs of field operatives stuck on site not being able to do their job, the loss of business from key customers due to frequently delivering damaged items or even the reputational damage you will eventually incur, choosing an appropriate form of packaging could make a significant difference to your business and overall profitability.

Equipment damage in transit can be a major headache for any company.

It can lead to costs rising through returns, written off products and wasted time on site. However, it can have more insidious consequences, such as negatively affecting relationships with your customers, delaying major projects and even leading to a poor perception of your company.

So, by understanding the types of damage your products, parts and equipment face, you can begin taking steps to ensure they are adequately protected.

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