Packaging is an ancient and modern topic, and it is also a subject that people have been studying and exploring from beginning to end. From the ancient primitive society, the agricultural era, to the modern society with highly developed science and technology, packaging has gradually developed with the evolution of human beings, the emergence of commodities, the development of production and the progress of science and technology, and has constantly made major breakthroughs. Generally speaking, packaging has experienced three stages of development: original packaging, traditional packaging and modern packaging.
Original packaging
The history of human use of packaging can be traced back to ancient times. As early as about 10000 years ago in the late primitive society, with the improvement of production technology, surplus goods had to be stored and exchanged, so the original packaging began to appear. At first, people bundled the prey with kudzu vine and wrapped the items with plant leaves, shells, animal skins, etc. This is the embryo of the original packaging development. Later, with the improvement of labor skills, people made the most primitive baskets and baskets with plant fibers, and made mud pots, bowls and bowls with fire burning stones and mud, which were used to hold and preserve food, drinks and other items, so that the convenient transportation, storage and preservation functions of the packaging were initially improved. This is the ancient packaging, that is, the original packaging.
Traditional packaging
About 5000 BC, mankind began to enter the Bronze Age. In the Xia Dynasty more than 4000 years ago, Chinese people were able to smelt bronze, and bronze smelting technology was further developed in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, people mastered the technology of making steel from cast iron and painting, and iron containers and painted wooden containers appeared in large numbers. In ancient Egypt, glass containers were blown in 3000 BC. Therefore, it has been a thousand years since ceramics, glass, wood and metal were used to process various packaging containers. Many of these technologies have been continuously improved and developed, and have been used until now.
As early as the Han Dynasty, Cai Lun invented papermaking in 105 BC. In AD 61, Chinese papermaking technology was introduced to Japan through Korea; Introduced into Europe in the 13th century, Germany was the first to build a large paper mill. In the middle of the 11th century, China Bi Sheng invented movable type printing. In the 15th century, letterpress printing began to appear in Europe, and packaging printing and packaging decoration began to develop. The ceramic industry in Europe began to develop in the 16th century; The United States built glass factories and began to produce various glass containers. So far, the packaging industry with ceramics, glass, wood, metal and other major materials began to develop, and modern traditional packaging began to transition to modern packaging.
Modern packaging
Since the 16th century, the rapid development of industrial production, especially the industrial revolution in Europe in the 19th century, has greatly promoted the development of the packaging industry, thus laying a foundation for the emergence and establishment of modern packaging industry and packaging technology.
At the end of the 18th century, French scientists invented the sterilization method to package and store food, which led to the appearance of glass food cans and tin food cans at the beginning of the 19th century, making food packaging science develop rapidly. In the 19th century, the packaging industry began to develop in an all-round way, with the emergence of mechanical wooden boxes in 1800; In 1814, the first fourdrinier paper machine appeared in Britain; In 1818, tinned metal cans appeared; In 1856, the United States invented corrugated paper; In 1860, it was made into a bag making machine in Europe; In 1868, the United States invented the first synthetic plastic bag – celluloid; In 1890, the United States Railway Freight Yard Transportation Committee began to recognize that corrugated boxes were officially used as transportation packaging containers.
In the 20th century, with the rapid development of science and technology, new materials and technologies are constantly emerging. Polyethylene, paper, glass, aluminum foil, various plastics, composite materials and other packaging materials are widely used. Aseptic packaging, shockproof packaging, anti-theft packaging, insurance packaging, combined packaging, composite packaging and other technologies are increasingly mature, strengthening the functions of packaging in many ways.
Since the middle and late 20th century, with the rapid development of international trade, packaging has attracted the attention of all countries in the world. About 90% of commodities need to go through different levels and types of packaging. Packaging has become an indispensable and important link in the process of commodity production and circulation. Electronic technology, laser technology and microwave technology are widely used in the packaging industry. Computer aided design (CAD) is realized in packaging design, and mechanized and automatic production is also realized in packaging production.
The development of packaging industry and technology has promoted the formation of packaging science research and packaging science. The packaging discipline covers many aspects of knowledge such as physics, chemistry, biology, humanities, art, etc. It is a comprehensive science in the interdisciplinary group. It organically absorbs and integrates new theories, new materials, new technologies and new processes of different disciplines, and solves the comprehensive problems in the circulation process of commodity protection, storage, transportation and promotion of sales from the perspective of system engineering. The classification of packaging discipline is relatively diverse, which is generally classified as packaging materials, packaging transportation, packaging technology, packaging design, packaging management, packaging decoration, packaging testing, packaging machinery and other sub disciplines. More than 40 colleges and universities in China have opened the packaging engineering specialty, and the packaging talent team is growing.
HugPak Packaging Factory focus on custom packaging for many years which is your good choice. The custom packaging box sample may take 3-5 working days to complete. Bulk orders require about 7-15 working days to complete production. If the design is complex or the load of our production equipment is too much, the time will be a little different. Contact us for more information, thank you.
