When an automotive original equipment manufacturer (OEM) redesigned a headlight system for a new luxury sports utility vehicle (SUV) to give a wider range of visibility, it required a new approach to packaging for protection of sensitive electronics. To address this challenge, Sonoco Protective’s TransGuard tote project utilized a new EPP material with built in antistatic properties to prevent the sensitive electronic components from being damaged by Electrostatic Discharge (ESD), an emerging challenge as electronic components become increasingly sophisticated.
After two years of development and approximately 20 project iterations, Sonoco Protective finally found a solution that would not only protect the headlamps from physical damage during transit, but now would protect them from static as well.
This was the first time the company had used ESD in a TransGuard application and the Automotive OEM is extremely happy with the results. Especially since Sonoco engineers were able to design the tote to be able to hold any of eight different headlight models! The models include those being shipped domestically as well as in Asia and Europe.
Rick LeBlanc, EMBA, is the founder and editor of Reusable Packaging News (subscribe to the free newsletter) and editor of Western Pallet Magazine. A supply chain journalist with more than 30 years of experience, he specializes in pallets, reusable packaging, material handling and related operations. Rick is co-author of Pallets: A North American Perspective and Pallets & Progress: A Collected History of Pallets and Palletized Handling 1922–1945. He is also an advisory board member of the Virginia Tech Center for Packaging and Unit Load Design. Read Rick’s full bio.
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