Liberty Intercept Blog

In conversation with a young union pipe fitter (Local 537) at the local pub, he shared how they prepare metal surfaces for welding, soldering, joining, and where the stress points are. Our man emphasized that with any pipe system, it is the joints or the connections that are the most susceptible to failure. It occurred to me that is the case with most products, simply, the weakest link is where materials meet.

Aren’t all anti-corrosion packaging materials the same?

No. Barrier protection products work in vastly different ways. The Intercept Technology line of products protects in two ways. First, they act as a moisture barrier. Second, Intercept reacts with and permanently neutralizes corrosive gases to form a corrosive gas barrier. This dual form of protection eliminates the two elements needed to form atmospheric corrosion. Intercept’s mechanism for protection is sacrificial, therefore, it won’t contaminate the product it’s protecting. The typical “waterproof” or vapor barrier bag/shroud concept is to attempt to keep the atmosphere and/or relative humidity from the protected product; whereas the emitting protection products, packaging and canisters, will surround the product with a volatile vapor. More...

Are desiccants needed with Intercept products?

Yes and no. If there are no large voids in the package, then the Intercept will react with the corrosive gases within the package and eliminate the potential danger without desiccating. However, if there are large voids that don’t allow the Intercept material to be close to some areas, then it would be best to utilize desiccants, making sure that the desiccants are not directly touching metals. Please consult with us for your recommended usage.

Here are some of the questions we have received and answered most recently:

1. Can I have Intercept in pre-made shrouds/bags? Yes. In addition to our standard on-shelf sizes, Intercept Packaging material can be custom converted to best fit whatever size you need.

2. Does Intercept fit into a reusable packaging program? Absolutely. In fact, it is the best packaging material to choose and a reusable program can be accomplished by choosing Intercept flexible films or fabrics and/or rigid trays, totes and lids.

My yearly tradition includes reading a physics approach to examining whether Santa Clause could exist and could actually deliver presents to children. This article was published in 1990 by Spy magazine. Since then, it has become the foundation for many chat room arguments about the possibility of Santa, and has been, as I understand it, cross checked and rebutted against by many. Its numerical approach to the circumstances necessary for Santa to do his work is delightful, as is its comically abrupt ending. The physics and analysis are all in good fun and they force adults to think about things differently and put themselves, albeit briefly, back into the shoes of children, to possibly think of magic as an explanation to what they are considering.  I know it works on me.

In the packaging industry, as in any industry, it is sometimes necessary to perform tests of the validity of the product options. For packaging, the ideal tests would come from real world situations and many tests do. Of course, that is not always possible, which is why throughout the years, many standard tests have been developed and some have even been refined (which requires testing tests). ASTM International (formerly the American Society for Testing and Materials), ISO, militaries and other organizations keep track of these standard tests and suggest the standard approach for performing them. Many testing companies also add on to these standards or adjust them slightly for their own testing purposes.

I recently have been spending a lot of time thinking about the future of cars. The advances in electric and driverless cars have really stolen the show. All of this was brought about recently when I was hit by, non-driverless cars (ie. cars with drivers), I was actually hit twice, once on a bike and the other while stopped at a red light. Both were accidents, but both got me thinking that we sacrifice countless efficiencies when humans are in control of cars. The first one that comes to mind is fuel (and energy) efficiency. If we use computers to drive cars they can more effectively and more quickly communicate with other cars thus reducing time wasted at stoplights or waiting while another driver considers what he or she is going to do. A perfect world could look something like this. 

Oh, paints! One of my pet peeves as a homeowner is when it comes time to use the paints for touch-up after they’ve been stored for a time, they are a mess and unusable (see gunky rusty metal paint can at left compared to nice clean paint can after storage in Intercept packaging). The cans become rusty and cruddy, the paint inside and thick, gunky, with rust particles from the can floating through it. The issue for me then becomes the disposal of up to a half gallon of bad paint. The oil-based paints are deposited at the town’s hazardous waste drop-off, collected once a year, which is fine if I am available on that day. Latex paints are supposed to be dried out and placed in the general trash...I don’t like that. Drying out paint in the can is an unrealistic chore. Disposing of paint in the general trash pickup just doesn’t feel right.

Corrosion can be explained as a natural phenomenon, however, we still need to understand how best to keep products, machinery, electronics, parts small and large, safe from corrosion, rust and degradation. This quick video is rich with information: 

Environmental award-winning Intercept Technology Packaging has a 20+ year history of helping companies store and ship their products around the world, reducing waste, reducing reworks and defects and more! Do you want to reduce or eliminate the use of protective oils in your warehouse or manufacturing plant? With Intercept packaging, you can easily do that.

This year the ground hog, Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators and Weather Prophet Extraordinary (his actual full name, I am a sucker for formality) pronounced loud and clear, “Get ready for an early spring!” I was happy to hear this. The sportsman in me is begging to get outdoors after several months of being relegated to four walls of my apartment, with the occasional reprieve to the gym or the ski slopes. I am sure I am not the only one.