Containerisation

This process occurs after the process of unitization. Containerisation is the process of unit loads carried and loaded aboard a trailer, railcar or ocean- going container.

While the creation of the best container for shipping of newly created product is also called "Containerization", the term also applies to determining the right box and the best placement inside that box in order fulfillment. This may be planned by software modules in a warehouse management system. This optimization software calculates the best spatial position of each item within such constraints as their ability to stack and crush resistance.

What are the types of containers

Various container types are available for different needs.

- General purpose dry van for boxes, cartons, cases, sacks, bales, pallets, drums in standard, high or half height

- High cube palletwide containers for europallet compatibility

- Open top bulktainers for bulk minerals, heavy machinery

- Open side for loading oversize pallet

- Flushfolding flat-rack containers for heavy and bulky semi-finished goods, out of gauge cargo

- Platform or bolster for barrels and drums, crates, cable drums, out of gauge cargo, machinery, and processed timber

- Ventilated containers for organic products requiring ventilation

- Tank containers for bulk liquids and dangerous goods

What are the issues regarding containerisation

Hazards
Containers are often used to smuggle contraband. In addition, due to the large numbers of essentially identical items, the vast majority never subjected to scrutiny, there are worries they might be used to introduce terrorists or bombs (including nuclear weapons) into ports undetected.

Empty containers
A social cost arises as a result of the high cost of transporting the empty containers back to the original shipping point by agents. This cost is often greater than that of containers themselves and because it is not often done, it results in large areas in ports and warehouses being occupied by empty containers left abandoned at their destination. However, empty containers may also be recycled in the form of shipping container architecture, or the steel content salvaged.

Loss at sea

Containers occasionally fall from the ships that carry them, something that occurs an estimated 2,000 to 10,000 times each year. For instance, on November 30, 2006, a container washed ashore on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, along with thousands of bags of its cargo of tortilla chips.

Containers lost at sea do not necessarily sink, but seldom float very high out of the water, making them a shipping hazard that is difficult to detect. Freight from lost containers has provided oceanographers with unexpected opportunities to track global ocean currents, notably a cargo of Friendly Floatees.