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Servers can get damaged during shipping due to various factors such as mishandling, vibrations, impacts, temperature changes, and moisture exposure. The delicate components of servers, such as hard drives, power supply units, and circuit boards, can be easily damaged or dislodged during transport. This can result in costly repairs, data loss, and even complete hardware failure.
When you ship server equipment, you know how important it is to ensure that it arrives at its destination safely and securely. Even small amounts of damage can result in costly repairs and delays. There are many concerns that go into transporting items as large, expensive, and sensitive as server and storage racks.
That's why it's essential to pack your server correctly and use Impact Indicator 2 to monitor its handling during shipping.
A leading server manufacturing company was experiencing a high rate of shipping damage to their products, which was leading to an increase in costs due to the need for repairs and replacements. The company recognized the need to take action to address this issue to maintain customer satisfaction and reduce costs.
The company was shipping its servers to customers worldwide. Despite using high-quality packaging materials, the servers were arriving at their destination with significant damage. This was due to the rough handling of the packages during transit, as well as the lack of visibility into the conditions the packages were subjected to.
The company was concerned about the increasing number of complaints from customers regarding damaged products, which was damaging the company's reputation. Additionally, the company was experiencing a significant increase in costs associated with repairs and replacements due to the damage caused during transit.
To make sure the packaging complies with the goods. We have to confirm the types of servers and suitable packaging.
Servers are typically categorized by the type of workloads they are designed to handle, such as proxy servers, mail servers, web servers, application servers, FTP servers, real-time communication servers, and virtual servers. They can also be classified based on their form factor, which includes rack mount servers, tower servers, and blade servers.
These devices have cases that look like regular PCs. Each tower is an independent server that requires its own cabling, power supply, and cooling system and is supported by a flat surface. Smaller organizations that simply need a few servers frequently employ tower servers.
Tower servers are a cost-effective and easy-to-manage hardware solution for smaller businesses and organizations that are transitioning to servers for the first time and do not require scalability beyond two servers.
These servers can be put inside a common server rack, enabling the vertical stacking of numerous servers. The width of rackmount servers is constant, but their height can range from one rack unit (1U) to four rack units (4U), with each unit occupying 1.75 inches of vertical space. For increased efficiency, a server rack often has some mix of shared power, network, and storage connections.
Rack mount servers offer higher-density compute and storage resources and are ideal for IT environments that require substantial capabilities and multiple nodes.
A blade server is a single-card server that may be put alongside other blade servers in a chassis that supplies each blade with power, cooling, cabling, and KVM switching, further decreasing the need for space and clearing up cable clutter.
Blade servers are well-suited for environments that need a large number of nodes with limited capability and have limited physical space.
Make sure your rack box is constructed for a challenging job due to the harsh realities of the shipping environment. Custom blocking and bracing prevent your product from shifting during transit, and precisely constructed foam shock absorption and vibration dampening protect the base from damaging shipping forces and collisions.
The server boxes must be constructed of extra-sturdy cardboard and have solid foam inserts that completely enclose and protect the server. Styrofoam easily flakes apart, and small particles can find their way into your equipment causing serious and irreversible damage. The foam also doesn’t offer the best shock absorption during transportation.
Polyethylene foam is a strong and resilient closed-cell foam, engineered to protect valuable & delicate products against multiple impacts while maintaining their original cushioning properties, as it is also excellent for dampening the effects of vibration.
According to Larson Packaging Company, as a leading sever packaging company, they provide following suggestions.
By accounting for the weight and geometry of your equipment, you can be confident that the box will do its job and the contents won't move around while being transported. For shock absorption and vibration dampening, foam will be developed with the proper quantity, kind, and density. Blocking and bracing secure the freight, and a good design makes loading and unloading simple, reducing errors and boosting productivity.
Check to make sure crate with built-in ramps are not hinged to the floater base and locked to the crate, which will render a portion of the shock/vibration protection system ineffective. To assist loading and unloading and prevent wood failure (and damage to the crate from casters and vibration), ramps and floater bases should be reinforced with metal runners and tips if the whole shipping weight is greater than 1500–1750 lbs. before loading.
Make sure your box is made to handle the stresses and strains of transferring an object that weighs more than a ton in order to ensure product safety.
According to TSI, consolidated freight can be a cost-effective choice for long distance trips because you simply pay for the space your equipment occupies on the truck. Depending on the particulars of your transfer, the cost of combined freight shipment for computer equipment varies widely. The actual price will depend on the size, distance, and other services you choose, such as custom crating or expedited shipping.
You may be sure that your priceless equipment is in excellent hands because qualified and insured shipping businesses offer consolidated freight transportation services.
Although LTL freight may be the best option for shipments of large boxes, most experts advise using a high-end "White Glove" service for delicate things like computer equipment. This indicates that they can provide you with specialty services like:
After confirmation of defects packaging and shipment, the company re-designed their packaging to include an impact indicator with Impact Indicator 2 team(about). Meanwhile, they select LTL white glove services. The impact indicator 2 is a small, inexpensive device that provides visible evidence of the handling conditions during transit. The indicator changes color when the package is subjected to excessive shock or vibration, alerting the receiver that the package may have been mishandled.
After conducting research and exploring various options, the server manufacturer decided to implement Impact Indicator 2 to monitor their shipping process. The impact-sensing Impact Indicator 2 devices change color when a package is subjected to excessive impact or improper handling. Each package had an indicator attached to it, which changed color to indicate potential harm if the package was handled incorrectly during shipment.
A system of accountability was also put in place by the manufacturer, whereby each package with an Impact Indicator 2 that had changed color would be examined and investigated to see what had caused the damage. The manufacturer was able to identify and address shipping damage issues by using Impact Indicator 2, which significantly decreased the amount of broken servers and raised customer satisfaction.
Shipping damage can be an expensive issue for server suppliers and manufacturers. Manufacturers may safeguard their products during shipment and increase customer satisfaction by taking measures to prevent shipping damage, such as utilizing high-quality packaging materials, offering clear handling instructions, training workers, and employing Impact Indicator 2. The usage of Impact Indicator 2 in particular can give an extra degree of accountability and protection, making sure that any possible shipping damage is found and dealt with before it becomes a major problem.
We strongly advise taking Impact Indicator 2 into account as part of your shipping strategy if you are a shipper who wants to ensure that your priceless cargo reach their destination undamaged or you want to have intact merchandise you purchase.
To find out more about how Impact Indicator 2 can safeguard your shipments and boost your bottom line, get in touch with us right away.