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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

#21

Post by chiph »

retroafroman wrote: post #18

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"…

How well does the EUR pallet fit into the non-metric dimensions of a 40' container?

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

#22

Post by No1 »

To give credit where credit is due, Keith Tantlinger invented the system that allowed locking containers together for stacking and lifting to and from ships. He convinced the company he worked for to relinquish the patent to encourage adoption and standardization. That invention and standardization are what gave us our current shipping industry.

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

#23

Post by retroafroman »

chiph wrote: post #21
retroafroman wrote: post #18

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"…

How well does the EUR pallet fit into the non-metric dimensions of a 40' container?

Worse, as you would expect. 15.2% wasted floor space vs 3.7% with 40x48 pallets. See here: http://www.ncagr.gov/markets/international/documents/PalletI...

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

#24

Post by gcb0 »

No1 wrote: post #22

To give credit where credit is due, Keith Tantlinger invented the system that allowed locking containers together for stacking and lifting to and from ships. He convinced the company he worked for to relinquish the patent to encourage adoption and standardization. That invention and standardization are what gave us our current shipping industry.

Wonder if the company ever regreted giving away that patent... In a purely financial context.

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

#25

Post by olefoo »

gcb0 wrote: post #24
No1 wrote: post #22

To give credit where credit is due, Keith Tantlinger invented the system that allowed locking containers together for stacking and lifting to and from ships. He convinced the company he worked for to relinquish the patent to encourage adoption and standardization. That invention and standardization are what gave us our current shipping industry.

Wonder if the company ever regreted giving away that patent... In a purely financial context.

Much like TCP/IP, HTTP and a plethora of other internet standards; it would have not been adopted had anyone maintained an active claim of ownership.

The way to make money off a standard is to sell it's complements ( think Cisco or SUN selling equipment that works with TCP/IP and ethernet ) not to attempt to charge for use of the standard.

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

#26

Post by protomyth »

socalnate1 wrote: post #20

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

I do hope they strip all the paint off them before using them for kitchens / housing. They are a bit nasty with the chemicals.

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

#27

Post by usea »

The company I work for was located in a shipping container for a year. 3 people had computers and (eventually) a window air conditioning unit. It got cold in winter.

We create products and services for the shipping industry (usually bulk cargo, but sometimes containers).

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

#28

Post by No1 »

olefoo wrote: post #25
gcb0 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wonder if the company ever regreted giving away that patent... In a purely financial context.

Much like TCP/IP, HTTP and a plethora of other internet standards; it would have not been adopted had anyone maintained an active claim of ownership. The way to make money off a standard is to sell it's complements ( think Cisco or SUN selling equipment that works with TCP/IP and ethernet ) not to attempt to charge for use of the standard.

"The way to make money off a standard is to sell it's complements"

That seems to be how things went. Tantlinger created over 70 patents related to transportation in his lifetime. Sea-Land, his employer, sold containerized shipping services.

I doubt there were any regrets about dropping the patent. Malcom McLean, owner of Sea-Land, did pretty well for himself:

[R.J.] Reynolds agreed in January 1969 to buy Sea-Land for $530 million in cash and stock. McLean made $160 million personally and got a seat on the company’s board.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea-Land_Service,_Inc

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

#29

Post by steve19 »

I was talking to a former navy Intel officer recently who told me about the former art of deducting what cargo was on deck a ship by the shape of the tarpaulins covering them. books were written on the subject. now that is all obsoleted by containers that hide the objects being carried.
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