In 1999, EasyClosets.com, a subsidiary of Contemporary Closet Classics, went live on the Web to showcase more than 700 closet organizing system designs. This wide selection enables customers to design and order all of the materials necessary to install a custom closet.

A typical order includes: a variety of lengths of durable wood particleboard with laminate film; chrome, brass and steel wardrobe rods; drawer pulls and wire baskets; as well as all of the incidentals needed to install the system. The particleboard shelving and drawers are extremely heavy, and can be easily chipped if dropped during shipment. In addition, the smaller, polished accessories can be scratched if not properly protected.

When shipping their first orders, the owners improvised, using corrugated corner pieces, loose packaging peanuts and a lot of duct tape. A large percentage of shipments, however, arrived damaged due to a lack of proper cushioning.

'We quickly realized that we didn't have the correct packaging materials or the expertise to improve our packaging system,' says Bill Burke, co-founder of EasyClosets.com

The solution was a combination of packaging materials including: custom-sized corrugated containers that fit a maximum of three shelves; a foam packaging system for closets; and bubble wrap cushioning for wrapping and protecting closet hardware.

To create these products, EasyClosets installed a foam and packaging molding system to create inserts that will accommodate all the various sizes of shelves-one mold for end caps, and one mold for side pieces.

Now when an order comes in, EasyClosets.com customizes the closet pieces and determines the number of items being shipped. The packager then creates the desired number of end caps and side pieces needed. To make protective cushions, the operator dispenses a foam-filled bag from the system and places it into one of the six mold enclosures on a molding wheel. When the foam has expanded within the mold enclosure, the operator removes the finished cushion. At the packaging station, the finished cushions are then placed on the shelving units, and the entire package is placed in a corrugated box for shipping.

For smaller items, the packager simply pulls the bubble wrap cushioning from a roll across the packaging station, places the items on top of the cushioning, and then folds the items until they are completely protected.

The most immediate change from these new packaging solutions was efficiency. Packaging the custom closet solutions with the new system was 75 percent faster than the previous method. What's more, order fill rates have been increased using the same number of employees. Damage to shipped orders was virtually eliminated, reducing refunds to customers.

'The cushioning provided by the packaging system kept our closets from being damaged during shipment,' says Burke. 'This definitely makes us, our customers and our shipping company very happy.'