Transport and packaging of trigger sprayers

Transporting liquids in a small package delivery environment is particularly tricky because the package can tilt in any direction. E-commerce giant Amazon took up the challenge and worked with a major bottle cap supplier to design trigger sprayers and bottle surface treatments for brands that meet its stringent performance standards, while reducing rework time and costs.
The new Ultimate-E (e-commerce) trigger sprayer from Trimas’s Rieke Packaging prevents leakage of liquids transported in small package environments—even the liquids with the lowest product viscosity.
2. Provide customers with an experience equal to or better than that of a physical store-that is, for convenience, there is no need to remove the internal seal, and the product is ready to use.
3. Allow consumers to remove the bottle cap-to refill the bottle, for example-this requires redesigning the cap’s ratchet.
The patented Ultimate-E can meet all needs and provide an omni-channel solution for brands wishing to expand into the e-commerce field, while preventing a surge in stock keeping units (SKU).
It also helps reduce product damage during e-commerce shipping, which costs millions of dollars a year (think about the leaking of window cleaner on a pair of Bose headsets for $350 when shipped in the same order and box).
The new leak-proof trigger sprayer eliminates the need for Amazon to rework packaging in preparation for shipping products, such as:
â??¢ Use a lot of bubble film; â??¢ Add tape on the closure and nozzle locking mechanism; â??¢ Includes custom trays to minimize item movement; â??¢ Seal the product in a zipper bag to prevent Leakage; â??¢ Transport the trigger sprayer separately (ie, do not apply to the bottle); â??¢ Attach a free gift, such as a sponge or brush applicator, around the dispenser as a buffer against the impact of a drop.
There are two versions to choose from-one for health, beauty, and home care, and the other for industrial products-the standard size of the cap is 28/400, and the dose is 0.9 ml. Rieke has cooperated with bottle manufacturers Alpha Packaging (for polyethylene terephthalate containers) and CL Smith Co. (for high-density polyethylene bottles) to provide caps in various materials (PET and HDPE). ) Adjust the neck finish on the top.
Justine Mahler, Amazon’s customer packaging experience manager, and Kean Lee, health, beauty, and home care (HBHC) technical director of Rieke Packaging, gave us a detailed introduction to this much-needed development.
How did this project develop leak-free packaging for liquids shipped via e-commerce? ? ? ?
Mahler: At Amazon, we seek to be the most customer-centric company on the planet, ensuring that customers consistently receive their household cleaners and other leak-free home care products, which is the core of this mission.
After our first contact with the Rieke team, it became clear that providing innovation in the e-commerce channel is of strategic importance, and they are eager to work with us to solve these customer pain points. Amazon provided Rieke’s current common failure modes for triggering nebulizers and the scale of commercial impact of liquid packaging innovations. This allowed the Rieke team to start an innovative plan around this mission.
Lee: We started this project after a customer of Riekeâ????? (a former employee of a multinational personal care company) introduced to Amazon. We were invited to share Rieke’s e-commerce technology. The first project we started was the trigger sprayer, because Amazon described triggers as one of the most problematic distributors on its e-commerce platform.
After visiting the Amazon corporate office and laboratory, we were able to obtain valuable advice from the Amazon team from a technical and commercial perspective. Our Rieke team then began to explore opportunities to resolve each failure mode to pass ISTA 6 requirements.
In addition, we heard news about the pain points of e-commerce packaging from several customers of Riekeâ????s, which prompted our internal team to attach great importance to e-commerce technology.
Lee: Due to the uncertain and completely random drop effects in the real shipping world, it is particularly challenging to simulate the drop effects from the perspective of laboratory testing. ISTA 6-Amazon was written to have more stringent drop test requirements to cover the worst-case scenario during actual transportation. We got a huge help from Amazon, and they shared their experience in triggering failure modes through e-commerce channels.
MAHLE: Random directions in the package delivery environment can lead to more potential impact points than traditional top load and side load tests usually used for physical shelf packaging. In addition, given Amazon’s wide selection, liquids can be shipped with various other items, which will drive unique product-to-product interactions during the delivery process.
Lee: Similarly, in the early stages of product development, Amazonâ????s teamâ????? support for sharing customer input, failure modes, test protocols and more e-commerce applicationsâ???? Let us Start design work in a more strategic position.
Mahler: The top-down alignment between the leadership of Amazon and Rieke allows the technical team to design and iterate with clear goals.
Lee: It takes about 14 months from the initial Amazon request to ISTA verification to commercial preparation.
Lee: Rieke is a leader in the field of e-commerce. Before meeting with Amazon, he worked with one of our multinational fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) customers to launch the first e-commerce delivery system. Amazon also recognizes the rapid response time of the Rieke team and our priority/focus in meeting Amazon’s needs.
Lee: Frustration-Free Packaging is an important factor in acquiring or retaining customers, because once a customer (the first time buying a product from Amazon) finds that there is no difference in product quality/user purchase experience, they will choose to continue buying products online through e-commerce channels .
Mahler: Our mission is to provide high-quality products with minimal waste. If this will provide a “???in store???? equivalent experience and enable vendors to use the package as an omnichannel solution, this is a huge win-because we understand that we carry a separate SKU for e-commerce The cost of this can be a challenge for suppliers.
However, we still believe that e-commerce channels can promote improved customer experience and functionality. This is our ultimate mission.
Mahler: Our goal is to promote industry innovation on behalf of our customers. We would like to thank our strategic suppliers for their innovations to help solve the insufficient packaging form factors in the package delivery environment. Â
Lee: One way of leakage is through the bottle cap, when the cap shrinks over time after being applied to the bottle. Rieke Ultimate-E uses an anti-back-off closure system to solve this particular problem.
Lee: We performed vacuum leak tests on single and multiple packages before and after the ISTA 6-Amazon test [Over Boxing, e-Commerce Fulfillment for Parcel Delivery Shipment].
Lee: Rieke also conducted rigorous internal tests: leak test, drop shock test and complete application function test.
Lee: This is selected based on the larger packaging sizes that are common on the market today. This applies to existing filling equipment for a smoother transition to the Rieke Ultimate-E e-commerce trigger sprayer. A sort of
The closure has passed single and multiple packaging tests. How are these tests different? What does the multi-pack test involve?
Lee: The single-pack test is to seal a bottle of product with a trigger sprayer in a box with an air pillow, and then pass the ISTA 6A test. The multi-pack test will be a trigger spray bottle with a weight dummy (define weight and dummy size to simulate other products) sealed in a box with an air pillow, and then pass the ISTA 6A test.
Rieke is using high-impact polypropylene resin. Can you determine the manufacturer and specific product?
Is this resin different/stronger than the typical PP used to trigger sprayers to prevent breakage during transportation? If so, how is it different/stronger?
Lee: In terms of sharing the difference in resin performance, we hope to base on the ISTA 6A test results, in which multiple failure modes were observed on the Rieke trigger before implementing the e-commerce function under the ISTA 6-Amazon test. A sort of
Lee: During the entire transportation process, the vibration and drop on the trigger nozzle tends to rotate the nozzle from the OFF position to the ON position. The design of the Ultimate-E trigger nozzle is more resistant to such movements.
Lee: The ball valve is used as a part of the pump mechanism to regulate the product flow. Technically speaking, the ball valve has no effect on the e-commerce aspect of the design. A sort of
How did you make a ratchet with reduced interference so that the closure can be removed from the container, but still leak-proof?
Lee: The ratchet accessories are designed and determined through research on the filling line settings and user interface viewpoints.
It has spray and flow options, right? Are there other styles? For example, can this design be copied to the pump?
Rieke e-commerce pumps focus on different failure modes: pump head unlocked, pump head ejected, and nozzle ruptured.
Lee: Yes, there are a series of Rieke e-commerce delivery systems that need to be tested and certified according to ISTA 6-Amazon.
The trigger sprayer is suitable for PET and HDPE bottles. Does this represent the vast majority of liquid containers sold through e-commerce?
Lee: Yes, most household products with trigger sprayers as dispensing systems have PET or HDPE containers.
Is it a brand owner? ? ? ? The choice of bottle suppliers is limited, or can almost any bottle manufacturer produce compatible containers?
Li: Exactly. The interior of the trigger sprayer and the materials used have been modified.
How does this development show that Amazon hopes to work with the industry to solve difficult e-commerce packaging issues?
Lee: We have received great support from the Amazon team-from sharing test reports, test protocols, test demonstrations, commercial data, etc.-which really puts us in a good position to start designing.
Mahler: Our goal is to promote industry innovation on behalf of our customers. We hope to incentivize suppliers and supplier communities to promote innovation in packaging form factors that are insufficient in the package delivery environment, and identify waste reduction options for all packaging.