The question our testing laboratory receives most often before an ISTA 3A test is simple: what do we need to prepare. The short answer is the five groups of information below. With them in hand, the lab comes back the same day with a list of test items and an expected schedule, instead of asking again over several rounds.
1. Information about the package
- Outer dimensions: length, width and height, measured on the fully packed package.
- Total weight, weighed as shipped, goods plus packaging.
- Which type the package belongs to: standard box, small package, flat package, or elongated package. Each type follows its own sequence.
- Outer packaging: carton, paper bag, plastic bag, shrink film, or a box with cushioning inside.
- Whether the contents are liquid, powder, or include fragile parts such as glass or a display.
- Where the centre of gravity sits, and which way up the package travels.
2. Information about the journey
- Which carrier delivers the goods, domestic or international.
- Whether the parcel passes through an automated sorting centre, or goes directly from warehouse to customer.
- Whether there are transit points, agent handovers, or several legs.
- How long the parcel stays in a sorting warehouse before delivery.
- Whether the route includes hot and humid phases, rain, or time left outdoors.
3. Information about samples
- Number of packages submitted. One is workable, but three to five give a fuller picture of how consistent the packaging is.
- Whether the samples are already packed in the retail configuration, or the lab has to pack them again.
- For liquid contents, whether leakage has to be checked after the test.
- Whether samples have to be kept after the test, and for how long.
4. Pass and fail criteria
- The acceptable level of product damage, described as specific symptoms.
- The acceptable level of packaging damage: torn, crushed, adhesive failure, wet.
- How the package is examined after the test: visual inspection, function check, or measurement of technical parameters.
- Whether the product has failed in real deliveries before, and in what form.
5. Report and timing
- Report in Vietnamese, English or bilingual.
- Photos and video of each test step, or only before and after photos.
- Test report only, or an additional association certification.
- The date the results are needed.
6. Why the package type has to be stated
For the same product, the way it is packed decides which type the package belongs to, and each type follows a different sequence. Elongated and flat packages are the ones that rotate and jam on a sorting conveyor; small packages are the ones that fall off it. If the customer sends dimensions but not the shape, the lab has to guess, and can pick the wrong sequence, so the result no longer reflects the real risk on the delivery route.
Three links worth reading before you send samples: what ISTA 3A is, pass and fail criteria in packaging testing, and what testing cost and lead time depend on.
You can send the five groups above through the form below, together with photos of the package. The lab will reply with the test items and an expected schedule.
This article reflects our testing laboratory’s experience in collecting information. It does not quote the content of the ISTA standard and does not replace reading the original standard before implementation.
