Why test for top-load strength? Packaging for consumable goods has several purposes. Not only must it have an optimal design and attractive looks to grab the attention of a prospective purchaser, but it must also provide ample protection for the product inside.

The pandemic has turned the global supply chain on its head. Manufacturers of materials and finished items are under unprecedented pressure to manage a disrupted workforce, while responding to ever-changing customer demands, in many cases with profound urgency. It’s enough to make one’s head spin. 

Force measurement is the measure of a push (compression) or pull (tension) against an object. It sounds elementary enough, but it’s a crucial part of quality control testing with more and more applications in today’s globalized supply chain. The needs for force measurement are all around us.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented surge in demand for healthcare and consumer products. This crisis has demanded stockpiles of supplies and has shifted the supply chain to local production. 

We tend to take cardboard packaging for granted, despite its increasing importance in our everyday lives. With the advent of online shopping, more and more of our purchases are shipped to our homes inside cardboard boxes of all shapes and sizes.

Compression is the application of pushing or crushing forces acting upon an object or a material that allows it to become squeezed or squashed. It is the opposite of tension, or the application of pulling forces that allow a material to stretch or elongate.

Nondestructive testing (NDT) is a type of testing that allows for the examination or analysis of materials and components without sacrificing their usefulness.

Pick up a material analysis data sheet and you’ll always find tensile testing, and probably flexural testing as well. But depending on the application, don’t hold your breath looking for compressive testing.

Not long ago, a manufacturer of needles for medical syringes was in the middle of another shift of quality assurance testing. The test involved three individuals side-by-side, with each grabbing the needles off the line and physically inserting them into a drill “chuck,” piercing a rubber slab to simulate the piercing of human skin.