Simple Packaging Worker Handbook Fine

Author: Chief Editor: Dong Chengqing
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2002-05-10
Features: Excerpt: Chapter 1: Basic Knowledge of Packaging
1. Overview
Packaging is one of the important means to realize the value and use value of commodities, serving as a bridge between product production and consumption. In the production process, packaging is the final and crucial step. During the distribution process, packaging plays a significant role in protecting goods, enhancing their appeal, promoting them, and facilitating storage, transportation, sales, and usage. In summary, packaging reflects the level of industrial development in terms of economy, technology, science, and culture. In both international and domestic markets, the quality of commodity packaging is closely related to the reputation of a nation and its enterprises.
Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, the packaging of commodities in our country was extremely simple, mostly using natural materials such as grass, hemp, cotton, bamboo, rattan, and willow branches. The cushioning materials for transportation were wood shavings, sawdust, and paper strips, which provided little protection for certain goods. After the founding of the PRC, industrial and agricultural production developed rapidly, especially with the steady growth of foreign trade, leading to continuous improvements in commodity packaging. However, by the 1960s, there was still a significant gap in packaging quality compared to advanced industrial countries in the world.
Since the 1970s, particularly after the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Party Congress, China's open-door policy and the economic measures of reform and opening up greatly boosted the development of the commodity economy. This not only provided a strong impetus to packaging work but also raised new and higher requirements for it. Leaders of the Central Committee and the State Council have always attached great importance to the development of the packaging industry. When General Secretary Jiang Zemin visited the packaging industry exhibition hall at the National Industrial Technology Progress Exhibition in 1991, he pointed out clearly: "Packaging is very important—it is not just about protecting goods, but also about increasing the added value of products through well-designed packaging." Premier Li Peng, when visiting the packaging industry exhibition hall, said: "Packaging is a major industry. It is not easy for the packaging of industrial products in China to reach such a good level compared to the past."
To strengthen packaging work, the State Council approved the establishment of the China Packaging Technology Association and the China Packaging Corporation in 1980 and 1981, respectively. In 1994, the Packaging Technology Center of the China Packaging Corporation was officially established, providing organizational and personnel support for the development of the packaging industry and promoting its entry into a new stage of development. From a technical perspective, the main manifestations of this progress include the development and popularization of a large number of new packaging materials and machinery, as well as the promotion of new packaging technologies, such as:
1) The development and widespread use of lightweight packaging primarily made of paper and paperboard.
2) Using plastic materials and metal foil materials for moisture and water-resistant packaging.
3) The development and application of new materials such as paper instead of plastic and soil instead of wood.
4) The development of new cushioning materials and the application of cushioning packaging technology.
5) The large-scale specialized production of packaging materials.
6) The continuous development of packaging machinery, driving the development of various packaging technologies.
7) Packaging standardization and the rationalization of transportation.
In 1985, China established the National Packaging Standardization Technical Committee. By the end of 1989, 23 standardized research institutes (centers, rooms) had been established under the State Council, with a team of specialized personnel dedicated to packaging standardization. Thanks to the joint efforts of various levels of organizations, packaging standardization work has made encouraging progress. By the "Eighth Five-Year Plan" period, China had developed more than 500 national and industry packaging standards.
The nationwide packaging inspection conducted in 1984 and 1985 achieved initial results due to the attention of relevant state departments and leaders at all levels. The number of products severely damaged due to poor packaging decreased, violations of loading and unloading operating procedures began to be corrected, and the level of containerization in transportation improved significantly. Through the packaging inspection, the importance of improving packaging was further recognized by enterprises and all sectors of society, which played a positive role in promoting the development of the packaging industry, making it better adapted to domestic and international market needs and the requirements of people's lives, and boosting the development of the commodity economy.
Although the packaging industry has made significant improvements, there is still a considerable gap compared to the rapid development of the national economy, especially when compared to advanced international standards. Therefore, from the perspective of economic development, the packaging industry remains a relatively weak link.