Difference between ECT & Burst grade corrugated board

by Rich Lindgren, CPP - Chainalytics

Mullen Burst tested board had long been the industry standard for grading corrugated board for secondary and tertiary packaging, (aka Shipping cases). As corrugators started utilizing more and more recycled content in their corrugated board, it was discovered that recycled board of the same basis weight did not always perform as well in the Mullen Burst test but still had some very good vertical compression qualities.

Somewhere along the line, ECT (Edge Crush Test) was developed as another method of grading corrugated board. The Mullen Burst test pressures a rubber diaphragm bubble against the board in a defined area to measure the pounds of pressure per square inch to burst the board. The ECT test takes a defined sample board size and measure the straight compression force for that sample size.

ECT vs Burst Comparative Compression Value Chart

In general, Burst grade boards contain more virgin material, which means it has longer and interleaved fibers. ECT usually has a higher recycled content, which makes it less expensive, but the fibers are often worked more and shortened. Some paper mills will dye their higher recycled paper a darker tint to give it the appearance that there are more virgin fibers in the paper. Often the mills that produce the paper with shorter fibers use special processes to align the fibers in a vertical orientation to help with top to bottom compression strength, but the board often lacks impact strength of burst board.

So if all you do in straight column stacks of product, that does not bulge out against your container and store in controlled environments, you should see very similar performance between ECT & Burst. On the hand, most companies do not have these ideal conditions, and handle & restack their boxes many times within their own distribution channels. And we all know the distribution hazards of shipping in a single parcel environment through UPS or Fedex can also wreak havoc on your packaging design and may require different materials or a different protective packaging strategy.

In this case, you should see much better overall box performance from the Mullen Burst board because of the configuration and natural strength of their longer fibers. You can also combine Mullen weight papers with traditional ECT papers to help offset costs and still create a better box. This is still relatively uncommon due to the special paper combinations and high volumes needed.

In summary, sometimes ECT is the right choice and saves money, but many times the ECT will cost you in the long run with increased damage and customer dissatisfaction.

If it all seems like too much to digest, or if you need help with distribution packaging solutions, let the Packaging Engineers at Chainalytics help you out!
Packaging@Chainalytics.com

ISTA Transport Packaging Forum Recap

by Rob Busse, CPP

This years Transport Packaging Forum (formerly known as the Dimensions Conference) was held at the JW Resort and Spa in Las Vegas. It was the second time that I have attended the event. Although the attendance was down approximately 30% (presumably because of the economy) I certainly recognized a few more faces this time around.

Overall, I thought the forum went very well. This conference is very technical in nature, so if that’s not your thing, then you would probably find it very difficult to keep from nodding off. Other than testing, the main themes of this year seemed to be sustainability and supply chain. Sustainability is obviously very relevant with the whole “green” push and with Walmart’s environmental goals for packaging. And developing packaging with the supply chain in mind is also very relevant since most companies are looking to reduce packaging cots in this day and age. Both sustainability and supply chain are some of Packaging Solutions’ main types of packaging projects over the past few years, so it was interesting to hear how other companies are tackling those issues as well.

Another particularly interesting presentation was given by Bill Armstrong (Sealed Air) and Dale Root (Lansmont Corp). They talked about “Project Leonardo”, which was the transport of a very unique dinosaur fossil from Malta, Montana to Houston, TX. The entirety of this project was filmed by the Discovery Channel. This project also utilized state of the art environmental recorders and GPS locating devices along with the video recording to make for a very impressive report that allows you to go and see with your own eyes the events that were recorded during the trip across the country.

See all the picture and video that you can handle at http://www.lansmont.net/judithriverfoundation

It was interesting to note that almost all of the most intense events occurred when the 53 foot trailer went over bridges and overpasses due to unevenness, buckling, and gaps in the road. The fossil arrived in Houston unscathed and it was considered a huge success. Kudos to all parties involved in that project from paleontologists to the truck driver to the packaging experts!

The conference will return to the Coronado Springs Resort at Walt Disney World in Orlando next year from March 29-April 1. If your company isn’t under a travel freeze and you have room in your budget, you might want to go ahead and book your arrangements while you still can, hope to see you there!

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