"They worked spectacularly." said Sales and Marketing Director, Dr Everett Jacobs, as his company, Watt Solutions has seen transit damage eliminated thanks to the use of the ShockWatch smart packaging labels from Lamerholm.

Watt Solutions is an innovative UK company manufacturing and supplying voltage reduction energy-saving devices for use on High Intensity Discharge (HID) lighting. Their biggest selling product, Watt Misers, have been sold to a wide variety of groups and organisations to help them cut carbon emissions and reduce their carbon footprint.

We were originally transporting our units on pallets, securely wrapped in bubble wrap." explains Dr Jacobs. “Although we had large 'Fragile' and 'Handle with Care' notices on the shipments, it seemed to us that almost every delivery resulted in a complaint of damage." Watt Solutions realised this was totally unacceptable as not only did it result in dissatisfied customers, but it damaged the reputation of their highly quality conscious company.

One of our technicians then came up with a design for new packaging cases that would add further protection for our products. Although they were able to keep the products secure, when the palletised cases were passed to the handling companies, they were once again not treated carefully enough. Despite the warning labels they were still being stacked and jolted resulting in loose screws and subsequent malfunction of the products."

 t was then time for further action and Dr Jacobs discovered the ShockWatch impact monitoring products from Lamerholm. Watt Solutions purchased a package of label solutions that included ShockWatch smart labels along with Companion labels and alert stickers. The ShockWatch labels are effective, highly visible devices that act as a strong visual deterrent to unacceptable handling. The labels contain a tube filled with red liquid held in suspension. When the device is subjected to an impact exceeding a specified G-level, the shock disrupts the surface tension of the liquid, releasing the highly visible red dye into the length of the tube. This creates a permanent and immediate indication of mishandling. Once activated, the device cannot be reset.

To accompany the impact monitoring labels, Companion labels are A4, self-adhesive labels that attached to items to be shipped, these contain multi-lingual instructions for the recipient on how to respond when damaged goods are received. The alert stickers, the final part of the package, are affixed to the Bill of Lading cautioning both the carrier and consignee that the shipment is being monitored.

Together the label package totally eliminated any damage that was occurring while the products were shipped. "We have been delighted." says Dr Jacobs. “As an add-on it has been invaluable and extremely cost-effective."

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