The encyclopedia · Engineering & Operations · Product decision · 1950s-1970s
The collapsible bulk bag turned a tonne of powder into one unit load
The woven FIBC holds about a tonne, lifts by its own loops and empties from the bottom, so bulk goods ship as one unit without a rigid box.
Flexible intermediate bulk container makers
the move
Moving a tonne of fertilizer, cement, resin or grain meant either heavy drums or many sacks, each needing separate handling and palletising.
The flexible intermediate bulk container, a woven polypropylene bag with lifting loops, appeared from the late 1950s-1960s and became known as a bulk bag or Super Sack.
It fills from the top, holds about a tonne, and empties from a bottom discharge spout, so a forklift moves the whole batch as one unit and the bag folds flat for the return trip.
That soft, collapsible bag lets a supplier move bulk goods without owning rigid intermediate bulk containers.
why it works
- It turns a bulk powder into a single unit a forklift can lift by its loops.
- A bottom discharge empties it by gravity, so no tipping or shaking.
- Folding flat when empty cuts return freight and storage space.
- A woven bag is cheap, so it suits one-way use or reuse depending on the load.
what transfers
Instead of a rigid box, make a cheap soft container that is itself a unit load and collapses when empty.
what came after
FIBCs became a standard for dry bulk worldwide, used for everything from cement and fertilizer to food and chemicals, and helped commoditise the intermediate step in the bulk supply chain.
references
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