The product name has been trademarked; the formulation has been perfected and patented; the packaging is unique and shelfworthy; yet, this product might never make it to retail because the owner forgot about one vital step: inspection.
“It’s important that when you’re developing a new container, you talk with a leak inspection expert ahead of time,” says Robert Chevalier, engineering manager for Teledyne TapTone, North Falmouth, Mass. He notes a specific instance in which a manufacturer built the plant, set up the line, and was ready to run production before it realized the package needed to be inspected. At that point, once Teledyne TapTone attempted to inspect the package, it determined that it was uninspectable by any technology currently in existence or that could be created, he explains. As a result, the container had to be redesigned. “There are times that containers come out that are uninspectable completely, and usually those will never make it to market,” he says.