Impact Monitoring: Taking Away the Shock of Product Damage Due to Mishandling

You just purchased that item you have been wanting forever, finally pulling the trigger to get that special product you have been dying to have. You get a notification that today is the day your package arrives at your doorstep. You hear the familiar sound of a knock on the door and rush to find your awaited delivery. You excitedly bring in the package and tear it open. You look in the box only to find, that the thing you have been most eager to get is broken. Due to mishandling of the package during transit, you now have the hassle of having to send it back and wait even longer. Youwouldnt want to go through this yourself, so why should your customers? Help the consumers that turn to your company for great products avoid ever having to deal with the same experience.

With e-commerce trends climbing and online shopping increasing, its more important now than ever to ensure your customers purchasing experience is at its best. This includes making sure your product stays looking just as flawless as it did when it left your facility when it arrives at your customers doorstep. You handle your beautiful products with the utmost care, but are others exercising that same level of care throughout the shipping process? Impact monitoring is here to ensure that they do.

Why Should You Implement Impact Monitoring Programs?

Impact monitoring uses a highly visible device, also known as an indicator or ShockWatch indicator, that activates when impacted above a predetermined level. According to SpotSee, an industry-leading manufacturer of impact indicators, stated that having an Impact Monitoring Program is proven to reduce damage rates by 40%-60%. Just knowing that a load is being monitored can deter bad handling. However, we all know accidents happen. This connected monitoring device shows damage detection, keeping your cost low and the right parties responsible. Data and analytics from these indicators can also eliminate pain points within your supply chain.

Some of the great benefits of using impact monitoring and impacting indicators are:

• Improve Product Quality & Customer Satisfaction
• Reduce Warranty Cost
• Ensure Efficacy of Critical Equipment

Types of Impact Indicators and How They Work:

• ShockWatch Label (Live) A glass tube that is held in place by surface tensions. When impacted, a red liquid will visibly release into the tube.
• ShockDot (Live) Works in the same way as a ShockWatch Label. ShockDots are lower in cost and not impacted by cargo orientation during shipment.
• ShockWatch2 (Field Armable) Cannot be activated before use. Impacts above a certain threshold cause this indicator to release a mass that is held in place by a spring.
• ShockWatch RFID (Field Armable) This indicator is a passive UHF RFID tag that can communicate an impact to an RFID reader without the need for visual inspection. Like the ShockWatch2, this also uses mass and spring to measure the impact.

There are lots of different elements to consider when selecting an Indicator. Two of the most important are shipment volume and weight, as well as the relative fragility of the load. Selection guides and field testing are excellent tools to utilize for selecting an appropriate indicator.

Indicator Case Studies

There was a recent case study published about a company shipping waffle cones to restaurants. All the restaurants receiving the product were consistently reporting that their beloved waffle cones were arriving in pieces, resulting in high product returns and a loss in their company confidence. Dont worry though, there is a happy ending to this story. The company started placing StopWatch indicators on all their shipments and their damage rates dropped significantly, helping to ensure that intact waffle cones arrived at the restaurants.

In another case study, a furniture company made conference tables. The furniture company was having issues with these tables suffering corner damage. The cost for the tables to be returned and reworked exceeded $2,000 each, with additional damage to the companys reputation. Deciding to finally put their stress fest to rest, the furniture company switched to using ShockDots on their tables being shipped. This dropped their damage claims from two per week to three per year!