A square deal for Square D

Reusable plastic containers pay for themselves in just 14 months at the electrical products maker.

By -- Modern Materials Handling, 6/1/2000

At times, conventional wisdom needs to be challenged, particularly when it comes to cost-effective ways to handle materials. Reusable and returnable containers made of plastic can be a smarter, less expensive handling method than wooden pallets and corrugated boxes. That's what Mark Reynolds, staff packaging project manager, proved for Square D Company in Lexington, Ky.

By investing some $20,000 in reusable plastic containers, Square D was able to save $17,770 a year on the purchase of corrugated boxes and pallets, Reynolds points out. Payback on the investment was achieved in about 14 months, he calculates. The containers are used for parts moving between two Square D plants.

Conventional wisdom had prevailed in the past at Square D in the kinds of containers used. They were wooden pallets of 42 x 42 in. and corrugated containers in sizes up to a 42 x 42 in. box.

The sizes and the fact that they were made of wood and corrugated didn't make much sense to Reynolds. What was the underlying rationale behind the practice? "We've always done it that way before," was the response Reynolds kept hearing.

Yet, pallets with a 42 x 42 in. footprint don't maximize the cube of today's trailers, the packaging specialist observes. Corrugated cartons don't have the stacking strength of some other kinds of containers.

With these drawbacks in mind, Reynolds and his team began investigating reusable containers. The goal was to reduce expendable shipping material costs.

Square D now uses a supplier's 48 x 40 in. plastic collapsible containers to handle steel parts in bulk at one plant and uses them as part of a returnable loop between that plant and another. This new approach not only makes sense logistically, it's also proving to be economically advantageous as well.

Corrugated boxes, used in the past, held steel stampings. They had a tendency to be destroyed through continued usage.

Wooden frames-with square bases of 42 x 42 in. and about 12 in. tall-also were used. With each frame weighing about 40 lbs., handling one of them presented ergonomic concerns. Difficult to store, the frames also deteriorated when exposed outdoors to weathering.

Fabricating several million steel parts each year, manufacturing would go through the parts in about 60 frames per 8 hour shift.

Now, that same volume of parts requires use of 20 of the 48 x 40 in. bulk containers.

The plastic containers can be stacked two or three loads high, moreover. The plastic containers also can be outside, exposed to weather, without deteriorating. And, when empty, they stack, collapsed, in one-third the volume required when they're full and in use.
Buckhorn
800-543-4454
www.buckhorninc.com