Janette Lais

Companies and users are constantly finding new ways to use bulk bags as the FIBC industry continues to develop and expand into new markets and industries. At National Bulk Bag, we are continually amazed at the conversations we have with current and prospective customers about their innovative product and/or application uses. It’s a testament to not only the ingenuity of end-users but also the flexible and versatile nature of woven polypropylene bags.

As new industries emerge, new opportunities emerge with them. Previously regulated industries like hemp and cannabis are suddenly open for business in the United States and have become large users of products like FIBC bulk bags. However, with these new opportunities have also come plenty of new challenges – especially inside industries that while legal, remain heavily regulated with guidelines and laws often being completely different state to state.

At National Bulk Bag, we address a variety of industry applications and product needs. The organics industry which includes but isn’t limited to food, hemp, and other agricultural products category presents perhaps the greatest set of unique requirements and challenges. This is primarily driven by the fact that these materials are grown in the ground and when harvested have shelf lives. The longer these perishable items spend between harvest and processing, the greater the risks for contamination and spoiling.

As the hemp and biomass industry continues to grow in the US, a diverse field of growers and farmers is also emerging. With this diversity comes different needs, challenges, and day-to-day operations. One of the more defining characteristics of each individual operation is the size. The size of an operation impacts so much of the other parts of the business. Everything from growing, processing, storage and transportation – all of these things are impacted by the size of an operation in some way.

The hemp industry in the United States is growing fast and creating tons of new jobs and opportunities in the process. With that rapid growth has come with a rush of new entrepreneurs, growers, and processors. However, specific challenges related to the handling, packing, transportation, and storage of hemp as a product have also come with this rapid industry growth.

In 2018, the revamped Farm Bill directed the US Department of Agriculture to establish a national regulatory framework for hemp production in the United States – essentially clearing the path for the legalization of growing hemp across the country. The USDA took that direction and established an interim final rule that outlines provision for the USDA to approve plans submitted by the states for domestic production.

BRC (British Retail Consortium), now recently rebranded to BRCGS (British Retail Consortium Global Standards) has recently updated the guidelines for their standards with their Issue 8 release.

Staying up with the latest and most innovative trends in the FIBC industry is extremely important as a distributor of bulk bags. However, it is equally important for buyers, suppliers, and/or anyone else involved in the industry. This is especially true when it comes to the trends regarding the food industry and food grade bags due to the delicate nature of the industry.

As a distributor of FIBCs, our overseas manufacturing partners greatly impact the product we sell. A great amount of the value we add as a distributor comes from the relationships we have with our manufacturers and our ability to properly vet them and the products they ship. These manufacturers not only make the bags themselves; they conduct QA (quality assurance) and product testing on site before the bags are shipped – an extremely important part of the procurement process (for a deeper look into what quality distributors do to vet their suppliers, check out this blog).

FIBC liners is a core topic on the National Bulk Bag blog. In fact, if you click here you can check out all of the great content we’ve written on liners. However, because we’ve covered the various types, uses, constructions and material types over a long period, a lot of our content is scattered through many blogs.

Globalization has impacted the lives of Americans and American Companies in significant ways. Perhaps one of the most impactful effects of globalization has occurred in product supply chains – and the FIBC industry is no exception. As we have noted several times in the past, the vast majority of bulk bags are now produced overseas – primarily in Asian countries. The benefits of this shift have been great for the industry as a whole, but it hasn’t come without drawbacks. 

Uncertainty is often the enemy of markets and industries. It’s been in the headlines for almost 2 years now – the “looming” trade war with China. Now, to be sure, we’re not here to analyze the dispute as a whole or pass judgement on whether it’s a full-blown trade war or simply the start of one. No matter what one may think of the current situation between the United States and China, there is no doubt it has created a great amount of uncertainty around the industries that source materials and products from Asia.

If you’re currently using flexible intermediate bulk containers in a production facility, then you know it’s quite a monumental task moving bags throughout your facility. Moving empty bags, filling them up with product, moving them across your facility to ship and/or discharge; it can be quite the manual process involving a lot of labor. However, there are solutions that can significantly reduce the amount of manual labor required to do all these tasks while simultaneously improving the overall safety of your facility. We are talking about automated bagging systems.

Transporting and/or storing large amounts of materials in large flexible bags (like FIBCs) can be inherently dangerous. Because of this, we talk a lot about safety. It cannot be understated how important the safe use of bulk bags is to us at National Bulk Bag. Safe working load (SWL) is one of the most important things any user should know about the bag they’ve purchased. But how do you find out the SWL of the bag you’re using? How do you know when you’re exceeding your SWL? In this post, we take a deeper dive into safe working load and examine the various ways to weigh FIBCs and ensure[...]

We talk a lot about FIBC construction on the NBB blog, and for good reason. With all the variations and combination of bags, it would be impressive if we ever get to the point where we’ve covered them all. Nonetheless we will continue our pursuit to make sure we talk about as many as we can no matter how obscure or specialized some may be. That brings us to bulk bag flaps. What are they? What do they do? Would they be a good fit for your product and/or application? Let’s discuss.

Recently we discussed using full bottom discharge (diaper bottom) flexible intermediate bulk containers with certain products like wet coffee grounds and other wet or high moisture products. This brought to light that we at the National Bulk Bag blog have not talked very much about the use of bulk bags with wet/high moisture products and/or materials. Let’s change that. In this post, we discuss the best practices when handling wet products and/or materials and what bag features to look for that can help mitigate some of the issues that come with those products/materials.

If you’ve been following the National Bulk Bag blog, then you’ll know we’ve been covering the industrial hemp industry a lot recently. We’ve covered why flexible intermediate bulk containersare a great fit for the industry and which specific bags are a good fit for use. However, we haven’t talked much about the specific features that make certain FIBCs a better fit and why. If you’re in these industries, this post is for you. It is our hope that we can help guide you in your purchasing decision and aid you in your quest to find the right bag for your product and application.

One critical question to ask yourself when considering purchasing flexible intermediate bulk containers is “how am I going to discharge this bag?” There are a variety of ways to discharge bags but not every method is a good fit for certain applications. 

If you’ve been following our blog recently, you know we’ve been discussing the growing business of industrial hemp and cannabis and how bulk bags are a great fit for the various products and applications within. However, we haven’t really dived into what types of FIBCs buyers in those industries should be looking to purchase. There are so many types of bag construction and different ways to customize the bags it can be downright confusing when first researching. In our second installment in our industrial hemp and cannabis series, we discuss what bag features to look for.

Today’s consumers are more conscious than ever about the quality of food they eat. This is apparent whether you are shopping at your local grocery store or dining at your local farm to fork restaurant. To ensure these expectations are met, many in the food supply chain industry require independent verification from their vendors and suppliers that they are consistently practicing proper food safety and quality measures.