The ITENE Technology Center has culminated the project EFFICIENT AI PACK, an initiative aimed at developing advanced tools for virtual simulation and Artificial Intelligence to optimize the design, validation, and transport of palletized loads. The project, funded by the Valencian Institute for Competitiveness and Innovation (IVACE+i) of the Valencian Government and by the European Union through FEDER funds, has enabled progress toward the digitalization of packaging validation processes, improving efficiency, optimization, and safety in the eco-design of the logistics chain.
To ensure product integrity throughout the entire logistics chain, packaging must be able to withstand several anticipated risks such as vibrations, drops, or impacts. Therefore, it is essential to have tools that can reproduce and anticipate these complex transportation scenarios before products reach manufacturing. In this context, EFFICIENT AI PACK has represented a significant advance toward digitizing these processes, combining material characterization data, Artificial Intelligence techniques, and advanced virtual simulations to improve decision-making in packaging design.
Predicting the Behavior of Packaging
“Thanks to this new system, we are able to anticipate the real-world behavior of packaging before it is manufactured, which marks a major shift in how eco-design is approached. This allows companies to make more informed decisions, reducing uncertainty, optimizing resources, and moving toward packaging solutions that are safer, more efficient, and more sustainable,” explains Marta Garrido, project lead at ITENE.
During the project development, ITENE advanced the creation of an advanced knowledge base about the behavior of packaging systems, integrating information on materials, load configurations, and real-world logistical conditions. This work has enabled identifying the critical variables that influence the strength of palletized loads and developing a key characterization database for training Artificial Intelligence models.
From this base, a virtual simulation environment based on Finite Element Analysis (FEA) techniques has been developed, capable of reproducing the main transport and distribution risks, such as vibrations, impacts, or compressions. This environment enables predicting the behavior of palletized loads under real conditions, reducing dependence on physical tests in early design stages and aligning with international standards such as ISTA and ASTM.
The reliability of the system has been strengthened through laboratory experimental validation with real loads, whose results allowed contrasting and adjusting the simulation models developed. The correlation between virtual and experimental data has been key to optimizing the accuracy of the environment, consolidating a more robust tool for its application in industrial settings and packaging eco-design processes.
Thanks to this tuning and validation, ITENE has managed to refine the virtual model of palletized loads, increasing the reliability of the generated predictions and strengthening its potential application in real industrial environments.
The project culminated in a parallel proof of concept, developed for both collaborating companies and other businesses within the Valencian Community’s industrial fabric, interested in applying these technologies. During this phase, results were presented and opportunities for industrial implementation of tools for virtual simulation and Artificial Intelligence applied to packaging design and logistics were evaluated.
Knowledge transfer to the business community is one of the project’s main outcomes, as it will enable companies to reduce development times, optimize costs, minimize economic losses associated with transport, and improve the sustainability of their packaging solutions.
