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Containers have been more important for globalisation than freer trade

economist.com

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Re: Containers have been more important for globalisation than freer trade

#11

Post by bmbyers »

masonhensley wrote: post #7

Containers & international shipping are pretty cool. In undergrad I interned for a barbecue grill company and worked on a project with the VP's of engineering and manufacturing to increase container yield. As simple as putting boxes in bigger boxes is, it was fascinating stuff, more so figuring out how to minimize the packaging of large hollow objects like bbq grills. In one case we were able to more than double the…

... or cruise missiles ready to launch straight from the container, if this Russian weapon-maker's video is to be believed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIgvGpH2smY

Re: Containers have been more important for globalisation than freer trade

#12

Post by jedc »

I highly recommend the book "The Box" which goes deep into the history of the shipping container. http://www.amazon.com/The-Box-Shipping-Container-Smaller/dp/...

In a nutshell, it was messy. It's not easy in the physical/infrastructure world to create a standard and then impose it world-wide. (ie, competing standards, etc.)

Then the container literally created and destroyed neighborhoods & cities, but as the article notes revolutionized world trade. I can HIGHLY recommend the book.

Re: Containers have been more important for globalisation than freer trade

#13

Post by betterunix »

dlhavema wrote: post #8

It's really cool to read about how a "simple" metal box could change this industry and many others so dramatically, talk about ripple effect...

The article makes a big deal about efficiency, but underlying the efficiency of the container system is standardization. It is the same story as railroads using standard gauges and couplers, electrical sockets being standardized and having standard voltages and frequencies, the IP protocol, etc. It allows people to think about their problems more abstractly, which allows people to get more done.

Re: Containers have been more important for globalisation than freer trade

#14

Post by jashmenn »

jedc wrote: post #12

I highly recommend the book "The Box" which goes deep into the history of the shipping container. http://www.amazon.com/The-Box-Shipping-Container-Smaller/dp/... In a nutshell, it was messy. It's not easy in the physical/infrastructure world to create a standard and then impose it world-wide. (ie, competing standards, etc.) Then the container literally created and destroyed neighborhoods & cities, but as the article…

If I may piggy-back on this thread, the idea of "containerization" is one of our inspirations at IFTTT. Information is currently being transported in "break-bulk" [1] - everyone has a different way of shuffling it around.

What we hope to do at IFTTT is develop a containerization of information; a common interface for moving data from point a to point b. Now, I realize we run the risk of creating the 15th competing standard [2], but we have some big ideas on the horizon of how we can make this work in a really general (and beautiful) way.

BTW, if these types of problems interest you, we're hiring :)

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Break_bulk_cargo

[2] http://xkcd.com/927/

Re: Containers have been more important for globalisation than freer trade

#16

Post by mcantelon »

jedc wrote: post #12

I highly recommend the book "The Box" which goes deep into the history of the shipping container. http://www.amazon.com/The-Box-Shipping-Container-Smaller/dp/... In a nutshell, it was messy. It's not easy in the physical/infrastructure world to create a standard and then impose it world-wide. (ie, competing standards, etc.) Then the container literally created and destroyed neighborhoods & cities, but as the article…

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/mind-your-language/2012/jan/...

Re: Containers have been more important for globalisation than freer trade

#17

Post by varikin »

bmbyers wrote: post #11
masonhensley wrote: post #7

Containers & international shipping are pretty cool. In undergrad I interned for a barbecue grill company and worked on a project with the VP's of engineering and manufacturing to increase container yield. As simple as putting boxes in bigger boxes is, it was fascinating stuff, more so figuring out how to minimize the packaging of large hollow objects like bbq grills. In one case we were able to more than double the…

... or cruise missiles ready to launch straight from the container, if this Russian weapon-maker's video is to be believed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIgvGpH2smY

... or some unknown radiation source that closes down a port for a long time and causes international headaches.

http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/10/ff_radioactivecargo/

Re: Containers have been more important for globalisation than freer trade

#18

Post by retroafroman »

It's interesting that the next step down from the containers in a transportation/logistics sense is the pallet, which is still pretty far from being standardized. Right now, there are a variety of competing standards-the EUR pallet, CHEP, iGPS, GMA, etc. Europe has done fairly well in standardizing on the EUR pallet and half pallet (which you can see at Ikea in the states). The North American market usually uses 40" x 48" pallets, but quality varies widely. It's a constant thorn in the side of any business who wants to standardize and automate their material handling, because without consistent pallets, automated systems can't be reliable.

Re: Containers have been more important for globalisation than freer trade

#19

Post by eli_gottlieb »

jashmenn wrote: post #14
jedc wrote: post #12

I highly recommend the book "The Box" which goes deep into the history of the shipping container. http://www.amazon.com/The-Box-Shipping-Container-Smaller/dp/... In a nutshell, it was messy. It's not easy in the physical/infrastructure world to create a standard and then impose it world-wide. (ie, competing standards, etc.) Then the container literally created and destroyed neighborhoods & cities, but as the article…

If I may piggy-back on this thread, the idea of "containerization" is one of our inspirations at IFTTT. Information is currently being transported in "break-bulk" [1] - everyone has a different way of shuffling it around. What we hope to do at IFTTT is develop a containerization of information; a common interface for moving data from point a to point b. Now, I realize we run the risk of creating the 15th competing st…

We have a containerized standard for moving data around. It's called TCP/IP.

What you're developing is a containerized standard for moving understanding around, manipulating data in a relatively standard way while still maintaining its context.

Re: Containers have been more important for globalisation than freer trade

#20

Post by socalnate1 »

A religious non profit that I support uses decommissioned shipping containers to build "super kitchens" in poorer countries. They are able to ship an entire self contained kitchen to a site, and get it set up in (relatively) no time thanks to this standardization.

If interested: http://outsidethebowl.org/?page_id=61

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