Long Life Ration Packet.

Abstract : An interest in the early fielding of the Long Life Ration Packet (LLRP) to meet unique Service requirements resulted in this Short Term Project with objectives of size minimization and assembly cost reduction. Many of the individual food items were previously used in other rations. however. the sizes and shapes of the items for the previous rations have not been modified to optimize the bulk packing density for this ration. Testing the eight sample menu items. It was demonstrated how sequence of packing and component shape and size can be considered in designing the Packet. The best answer found generated a 15% reduction in total package volume. Five alternative LLRP assembly methods were described and evaluated. Manual placement of components into a Packet bottom formed in a horizontal form/fill/seal packaging line gave the lowest assembly costs at production levels of 1 to 10 million LLRPs/year. Recommendations are also included regarding the shapes and sizes of the individual LLRP components.