Team 12 - Consumer Facing Packaging (Hanesbrand, Inc.)

Our team was tasked with developing consumer facing packaging for Hanesbrand Inc. for use in retail stores that would tell a sustainability story. The focus of our project was the replacement of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) clear bags and paperboard holders currently used by Hanesbrand Inc. with a sustainable alternative. The expectations of the project and the project scope were very broad from the beginning, and we worked hard to ideate on potential solutions. Our final tally of concepts reached over 60 ideas! These ideas had to be narrowed down extensively through a concept selection process where wilder proposals, such as edible packaging, were analyzed critically through a Pugh Matrix and ranked. From our top-ranking ideas we selected several key concepts, namely the PLA bag clip, PLA compostable bag, and knitted hemp mesh bag which met the necessary criteria. After further technical evaluation, the mesh bag was shelved and the PLA bag and clip moved on to the next phase of prototyping.

The PLA bag and clip had to be initially prototyped externally. The PLA bag sample and roll were ordered from China and the PLA clips were printed by the D.H. Hill Library MakerSpace Staff and Senior Design personnel. The clip designs were originally discovered on Thinginverse.com, an open source page for 3D prints. We printed about 11 different designs and picked the 3 with the most secure closings, since that was a high priority. The clip with the most reusability potential was redesigned on Solidworks in order to alter the dimensions and add a hook for retail display versaitility. Once we received the PLA roll, we used the Sonobond in the senior design lab to bind the panels together. We then combined the clip, our label design with sustainability marketing, the PLA bag, and Hanes product to create our final packaging look. Our final phase was testing the strength of the hook with a modified tensile test, and performing a weight test using increasing loads inside the PLA bag to evaluate slippage between the bag and clip.

Register to see the students present their project here!