Transport packaging: Safe travels; lower costs
Aviation equipment supplier uses a versatile packaging system to cut expenses and protect products during shipping.
By Lorie King Rogers, Associate Editor -- Modern Materials Handling, 8/1/2009
Airplanes get people where they need to go. For more than 30 years, Tronair products have been getting airplanes where they need to go. Tronair is a supplier of aviation ground support equipment that offers more than 1,000 products and equipment replacement parts, including wheel chocks, hydraulic service units and more.
Tronair's warehouse supervisor, Don Baldwin, was looking for an inflatable packaging system to provide cushioning for a variety of products.
Each year, the company ships hundreds of parts from their 90,000-square-foot warehouse in Holland, Ohio, to airports worldwide. Since the parts range from 12-foot tow bars to 2-inch replacement parts, Tronair needed a versatile packaging system that could protect all shapes and sizes in transit. It landed on an inflatable packaging solution (Sealed Air, 708-482-3389, www.sealedair.com) that provides the flexibility, reliability and protection Tronair demands.
"When we ship tow bars we need a lot of air cushions at once, so the speed with which the system creates cushions was also attractive," said Baldwin.
The inflatable packaging system creates custom-sized, air-filled cushions that provide cushioned protection, blocking and bracing for products throughout the shipping cycle. It allows operators to select the length and height of the cushioning material at the touch of a button. And for heavier items, the new system uses a heavier film that makes for stronger seals that keep cushions inflated through the rigors of travel.
To ship oddly shaped products, the company requires a combination of packaging techniques. It uses a hybrid solution that includes inflatable cushions and foam cushions. To produce the customized foam cushions, the system dispenses a mixture of two components that are mixed and result in a high-quality polyurethane packaging foam.
Other key factors in the decision to change over to the new packaging system were its smaller footprint, faster speed and resistance to summer humidity. Humidity in the warehouse had been adversely affecting the old packaging system, causing frequent downtime for machine repair. Since incorporating the new system, the company has seen less downtime in the warehouse and cut the average shipping time by 45 minutes per shift.
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