Last week, in our article "The Science and Value of Finite Element Analysis (FEA) in Food Packaging: Packaging is more than a mere container for your food product. (Part 1 of 2)”, we spoke about how FEA can help companies make better decisions as to which packaging design to go for, when considering various variables. Today we are going to give a more practical example of how food packaging plays a fundamental part during supply chains, to ensure the product arrives safely on our tables at home. 

Let’s take as an example that we are designing packaging for a chilled ready meal that needs to be transported across a regional supply chain to be sold to supermarkets for the end-user to enjoy. The conditions are that the product is to stay below the 5 °C, remain intact during the various transportation stages, as well as that it has a short shelf-life of 7 days from end of production to consumption. Through Finite Element Analysis or "FEA", we can make use of thermal modelling to understand the behaviour of the meal during the different shifts in temperatures during different transportation, loading and unloading and storage scenarios. It helps us to predict how well the design of the packaging insulates the product across various conditions and temperatures. By creating a virtual model and run simulations, you can compare various materials to understand thermal conductivity and insulation and assess whether additional packaging design features such as layers and vacuum sealing are needed for extra protection.

Through FEA’s structural analysis and simulation you understand how the packaging will endure stressors such as stacking in a warehouse by applying virtual compression and impact forces to see whether it survives the pressure, what happens if the product is dropped from a certain height and whether the seal will hold under different pressures. As you see the behaviour, you can tweak and optimise the design such as for example the packaging’s thickness, creating stronger corners, reinforcing the lid but optimising this in such a way to balance out additional protective features and not waste excess material. It is finding the right balance of costs, quality and sustainability, as well as finding the balance of what is the lighter, lowest-cost material to meet the needed requirements.

Other considerations are also factored in such as will the packaging fit securely in standard crates for the handling by retailers, how will the design of the packaging fit on a pallet, will its shape and its rigid form allow automated handling in a warehouse and how will it fare under different temperature shifts. 

By using data-driven and physics-based modelling and simulation early in the development process you can reduce the number of physical prototypes needed, reducing packaging failures and take faster and more informative decisions on the right design of packaging to choose in line with business, technical and sustainability goals. This improves cost, quality and time to make food systems better. Packaging development process becomes a proactive and strategic process, rather than a trial-and-error based exercise, which places a burden on companies and societies. It is way of a smarter exercise to understand how you can deliver to your consumers, in the right manner.

Funis Consulting works at the intersection of R&D and Innovation through the use of modelling and simulation techniques. Whether it is understanding new materials, improving robustness or costs-efficiencies of your current design or systems or reducing environmental impact through smart design, the opportunities for meaningful change in foods and food systems are there and they are vast. We believe in a better way to do things, to create real-world impact for a better world.