Intercept Technology™ in Shipping and Export

The world has migrated from regionally focused economies to a singular global economy. This shift to a world economy has resulted in products that are Staged / Shipped / Stored / Deployed in various parts of the globe. The shift in Logistics results in more complex supply chains, increased logistic times and increased product stresses due to of air pollution and temperature variations. The increased levels of pollution in places like Asia, South America or the increased stress on products going via sea shipments makes it harder to keep products in “as manufactured” states and corrosion free. As an example, the H2S (Hydrogen Sulfide – one of the most aggressive forms of atmospheric pollutant gases) levels in the US are approximately 8 ppb (parts per billion). This level jumps to 600 ppb in Brazil and over 800 ppb in the Asian Pacific Rim Region (APAC).

Manufacturers need to start demanding more from their packaging. Packaging needs to meet this increased level of performance – Intercept Technology™ functions as a reactive polymer and was designed to meet these increased demands. Intercept ensures that the longer shipping cycles, the harsher environments, the areas of increased pollution and the stress of sea or air freight are not a factor in the product’s reliability by protecting the contents so arrive safely at their destination.

One of the first widespread uses of the Intercept Technology™ packaging was for export shipments, replacing foil barrier bags. Traditional Foil Barrier bags were designed to keep ferrous metals (iron / steel) free from corrosion by providing a complete hermetic seal and humidity levels (RH) less than 37%. The problem is that once these foil bags are opened at customs this hermetic seal is broken and the protection being offered by the foil barrier and desiccant stops, this is also true if the bag is torn, ripped or even develops a small pinhole. Often times foil bags are folded – if you look at a folded foil bag from the inside, often you will see that the metal layer is broken at each fold line, this compromises the bags protection. Foil bags, being passive barriers, trap any corrosive environment of the pack-out location inside the bag. Foil bags also depend on hermetic seals. Another issue is that humidity has little or no influence on the corrosion of non-Ferrous metals (non-iron based), so keeping them dry has no impact on their corrosion rate.

The Intercept Technology™ transcends this, allowing for the bags, films or wraps to be opened and re-sealed by taping, such as what customs typically does, or allowing easy repairs and re-closure in the field or in a warehouse. Typically a small amount of desiccant is added inside the Intercept bag (16 units per cubic meter of free air space, so a 1 cubic meter bag, that is 50% loaded would need 8 units) to reduce the initial humidity when the bag is closed in order to prevent initial condensation. Intercept is also RFID transparent, so RFID tags can be used on the inside of Intercept packs – the RIBS Technology products provide RFID blocking and shielding if needed.

Key Attributes

  • Protects against corrosion for transport and storage.
  • Endures harsh and inclement weather conditions, relative to transport / sea freight.
  • Enables re-sealing of packaging simply by taping it in case of a tear and / or inspection.
  • Enables "oil free" shipment of parts.
  • Saves time costs through optimization of processes.
  • Saves costs via reusable and recyclable materials.

Recommendations For Shipping / Export

  • Corrosion Intercept®: Stretch / Film / Bags / Shrink / KorrVu® with CI
  • Static Intercept®: 4 or 6 mil Films, Bags, Wraps
  • Intercept2: Films / Bags
  • RIBS MVTR™: Films / Bags
  • Intercept Shrink™: 6 mil CI Shrink for crated items
  • 7 or 8 mil SI Shrink for crated or uncrated items