Packaging: Do it Best relies on reusable containers
Retailer uses plastic containers to move products from its eight DCs to 4,100 hardware and lumber stores in its network.
By Sara Pearson Specter, Editor at Large -- Modern Materials Handling, 4/1/2009
Do it Best Corp. has used plastic reusable containers long before being green was trendy. The company uses them to safely and securely transport products from its eight distribution centers to the co-op’s 4,100 member-owned hardware and lumber retailers.
On an average day, the Do it Best uses approximately 1,000 detached lid containers (Buckhorn, 800-543-4454, www.buckhorninc.com) at each DC to transport items ranging from light bulbs and tape to batteries and tools, says Brian Etzler, logistics operations manager at Do it Best. Etzler estimates the co-op now has 40,000 containers throughout its supply chain.
“We’ve relied on the plastic containers for decades and have found no reason to use any other product to do the job,” said Etzler, who notes that strength, stackability and consistent size are the containers’ primary benefits.
To transport larger hardware products—such as long garden tools—to its member stores, Do it Best still uses corrugated containers. But due to their short lifespan and the fact that they cannot be secured for transit, cardboard boxes have long since disappeared as a viable option for transporting everything else.
Higher wall containers are used to accommodate the variety of products shipped. Once the plastic container is filled, a lid is attached with a specially colored packing slip and secured with a cable tie at each end. To ensure efficiency at the stores, the containers are filled with related products that end up in the same department or aisle.
Containers are filled with heavier items in the bottom and lighter, more fragile items toward the top. However, no more than 50 pounds of product can be loaded in any one container so workers can easily lift the containers onto pallets or stack them in truck trailers. The same ergonomic consideration holds true for member store employees who handle the containers in their own receiving departments.
“A combination of the maximum weight allowed and the ergonomic handles built into the containers makes them easy to move when full,” says Etzler, who adds that some containers weigh out before cubing out. The co-op’s order picking system analyzes the shape of thousands of products and determines the right combination of products to maximize the space used in a container.
The company prefers containers with detached lids versus attached lids, notes Etzler: “If a container lid becomes damaged, we simply replace the lid and send the damaged one to be recycled rather than the whole container.”
He also notes that the plastic containers, which can be stacked up to six layers high, provide consistent product protection. “If damage should occur, it’s typically caused by the product packaging or the wrong mix of product in the container,” Etzler says.
The company is currently looking into converting from corrugated boxes to larger, reusable plastic bulk containers for the larger products in the near future. 
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