ISTA-2A-package-standard

ISTA2A2004-Page1of14ISTA,YourAllianceinTransportPackaging,istheworldleaderinPerformanceTestsforPackaged-Products.ISTA2SeriestestsareacombinationofbasictestelementsfromISTA1Series(Non-SimulationIntegrityPerformanceTesting)andadvancedtestelementsfromISTA3Series(GeneralSimulationPerformanceTesting).•Theychallengethecapabilityofthepackageandproducttowithstandtransporthazards,but•Theyonlysimulatesomeactualtransporthazards,and•Theydonotnecessarilycomplywithcarrierpackagingregulations.Whenproperlyapplied,ISTAprocedureswillprovidetangiblebenefitsof:•Shortenedpackageddevelopmenttimeandconfidenceinproductlaunch•Protectionofproductsandprofitswithreduceddamageandproductloss•Economicallybalanceddistributioncosts•Customersatisfactionandcontinuedbusiness.Therearethreesections:Overview,TestingandReport•Overviewprovidesthegeneralknowledgerequiredbeforegoingintothetestinglaboratoryand•Testingpresentsthespecificinstructionstodothetestinginthelaboratoryand•ReportindicateswhatdatashallberecordedtosubmitatestreporttoISTA.TwosystemsofweightsandmeasuresarepresentedinISTAtestprocedures.TheyaretheEnglishsystem(Inch-Pound)andtheinternationalsystemSI(Metric).Inch-PoundunitsareshownfirstwithMetricunitsinbrackets,exceptinsometableswheretheyareshownseparately.•Eithersystemmaybeusedastheunitofmeasure(standardunits),but•Thestandardunitschosenshallbeusedconsistentlythroughouttheprocedure.•Unitsareconvertedtotwosignificantfiguresand•Notexactequivalents.VERYIMPORTANT:Theentiredocumentshallbereadandunderstoodbeforeproceedingwithatest.OVERVIEWOFPROCEDURE2ATestProcedure2Aisapartialsimulationtestforindividualpackaged-products.•Itcanbeusedtoevaluatetheperformanceofapackaged-product.•Itcanbeusedtocomparerelativeperformanceofpackageandproductdesignalternatives.•Itshouldbeconsideredfortheevaluationofpackaged-productsintendedforinternationaldistribution.•Thepackageandproductareconsideredtogetherandnotseparately.•Someconditionsoftransit,suchasmoisture,pressureorunusualhandling,maynotbecovered.OtherISTAProceduresmaybeappropriatefordifferentconditionsortomeetdifferentobjectives.Specificsuggestions:•Forpackaged-productsthatmaybetransportedinasmallparceldeliverysystemconsiderISTAGeneralSimulationPerformanceTestProcedure3A•RefertoGuidelinesforSelectingandUsingISTAProceduresandProjectsforadditionalinformation.Copyright©2005byInternationalSafeTransitAssociation.AllrightsReserved.2A2004ISTA2SeriesPartial-SimulationPerformanceTestProcedurePackaged-Products150lb(68kg)orLessPrefaceISTA2A2004-Page2of14OVERVIEWOFPROCEDURE2ATestProcedure2Acoverstestingofindividualpackaged-productsweighing150pounds(68kg)orlesswhenpreparedforshipment.EXCEPTION:Individualpackaged-productsonavisibleskidorpalletandthatweighmorethan100pounds(45kg)maybetestedaccordingtoTestProcedure3E.Theshippershalldeterminethefollowingpriortotesting:•Whatconstitutesdamagetotheproductand•whatdamagetolerancelevelisallowable,ifany,and•thecorrectmethodologytodetermineproductconditionattheconclusionofthetestand•theacceptablepackageconditionattheconclusionofthetest.ForadditionalinformationonthisdeterminationprocessrefertoGuidelinesforSelectingandUsingISTAProjectsandProcedures.NOTE:WhenconductingtheCompressionTest:•Boxfailurethatcouldresultinastackingfailureisconsideredafailedtest,if•thepackaged-productmaybewarehousedinastackformorethan24hoursduringdistribution.•Boxfailureisallowedifthepackaged-productprovidedisnotstackedformorethan24hours,and•attheconclusionofalltesting,theproductisnotdamagedaccordingtheProductDamageandToleranceestablishedand•thepackagestillmeetstheacceptablepackagecondition,bothofwhicharedeterminedabove.ForadditionalinformationonthisdeterminationprocessrefertoGuidelinesforSelectingandUsingISTAProceduresandProjects.Samplesshouldbetheuntestedactualpackageandproduct,butifoneorbotharenotavailable,thesubstitutesshallbeasidenticalaspossibletoactualitems.Numberofsamplesrequired:Onesampleisrequiredforthetestsinthisprocedure.ReplicateTestingRecommended:Topermitanadequatedeterminationofrepresentativeperformanceofthepackaged-product,ISTA:•Requirestheproceduretobeperformedonetime,but•Recommendsperformingtheprocedurefiveormoretimesusingnewsampleswitheachtest.NOTE:Packagesthathavealreadybeensubjectedtotherigorsoftransportationcannotbeassumedtorepresentstandardconditions.Inordertoinsuretestinginperfectcondition,productsandpackagesshippedtocertifiedlaboratoriesfortestingmustbe:•over-packagedforshipmenttothelaboratoryor•repackagedinnewpackagingatthelaboratory.ScopeProductDamageToleranceandDegradationAllowanceSamples2AISTA2A2004-Page3of14OVERVIEWOFPROCEDURE2AThetestsshallbeperformedoneachtestsampleinthesequenceindicatedinthefollowingtable:Sequence#TestCategoryTestTypeTestLevelForISTACertification1AtmosphericPreconditioningTemperatureandHumidityAmbientRequired2AtmosphericConditioningControlledTemperatureandHumidityTemperatureandHumiditychosenfromchartRequiredMachineApplyandReleaseCalculatedTestForcex1.4MachineApplyandHoldCalculatedTestForce3CompressionWeightandloadSpreaderCalculatedTestLoadRequiredFixedDisplace