Innovation in encapsulation

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Jacob Morgan
  • 436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  "Anything that moves through this base comes through here," said Tech. Sgt. Mark Scribner, the NCO in charge of packing and crating with the 436th Aerial Port Squadron.

As part of the traffic management office, the packing and crating shop has a unique mission.

Everything from household items to military cargo goes through packing and crating. Each item has its own unique code, called a special packaging instruction, for how it is packaged and shipped on a pallet from one aerial port to another.

The SPI contains detailed instructions down to the nuts and bolts on how to package or crate an item.

"Anything from oil filters to the back door of a C-5 Galaxy needs to be packaged so it is protected when it ships," said Scribner.

Dover AFB's packaging and crating shop is unique in two aspects; they have created their own codes and they are ecosystem friendly.

Typically SPI's are created at bases such as Robbins AFB, Ga., where there are depots specifically designed to solve crating issues. However, at Dover AFB, the packing and crating office created a code of their own for C-5 tires.

"We started getting old tires being shipped back and new ones needing to be shipped out," said Scribner. "They need to move out safely, so we came up with a SPI now followed by the entire Air Force."

Creating new instructions for the Air Force is not the only thing setting their shop apart of others. Packing and crating at Dover AFB also saves the Air Force a lot of money by being efficient with their supplies.

Recently, packing and crating received a new corrugated box-maker, which takes a standard piece of cardboard and cuts and folds almost any type of box needed for shipping.

"Now we don't have to wait on orders or overstock boxes," said Scribner.

In addition to the new box-maker, the shop also has a machine designed to transform old unusable cardboard into packaging material, like bubble wrap.

"The flow of cargo goes in our shop and out or our shop a lot faster now," said Scribner. "We basically have everything we need in shop to complete our mission."

The main goal of the shop is to do exactly that, move cargo in and out quickly. To package and crate items faster, means they arrive to the people who need them.

"We require a lot less manpower now because we have a lot of technology," said Patrick Brady a packing and crating specialist with the 436 APS. "With less people, items are still going out fast."