Version one: the carton that passed our own test
Five-layer corrugated, foam corner blocks, panels vertical with dividers. It survived the factory drop test, which is exactly why it shipped.Two cartons arrived with crushed corners. One panel had a bent frame at the top left, where a foam block had shifted.
The drop test measures impact. A truck measures vibration, for five days, in one direction.
Version two: more layers, same mistake
Seven-layer corrugated with honeycomb board on four sides, moulded EPE corners, plastic edge protectors.Damage dropped, did not stop. The remaining failures were on the long edges, where the carton flexed against the pallet strap compressing it every time the truck braked.
Version three: pack the crate, not the box
Plywood crate on a pallet base. Panels vertical in slots with twenty millimetres of EPE between them. The stack strapped to the crate rather than the carton.Twenty minutes to open with a screwdriver, more expensive per unit, and reusable when a panel comes back for service and has to survive the return trip.
The five questions that decide the crate
Road, rail or sea. How many transfers. Maximum summer temperature on the route. Forklift or crane at the site. Whether panels will be stored outside before installation.None of these appear on a standard order form. All of them change the answer.
What to ask a supplier
If the same carton is quoted for a 200 km delivery and a 3,000 km delivery, the packing was not designed for your route.Ask for the crate drawing and the drop test report. A proper crate is cheap next to a replacement panel and three weeks of delay on a site already paying rent.