Custom packaging system puts the pieces together, but quicker

When it comes to protective packaging, every product has its own set of challenges. For American Standard Brands, the goal is cost-effective, damage-free delivery of its Fiat brand terrazzo mop basins for institutions with janitor closets, such as schools, hospital, factories and office buildings. After deploying a customized package, the company was able to improve product quality while halving the time needed to package each basin.

The company’s Fiat mop basins come in a variety of shapes, sizes and styles, but all share some basic elements. They are heavy—unit weights start at 250 pounds—and made of terrazzo, a composite precast material made from black and white marble chips in Portland cement.

Protective packaging for the basins needs to not only encompass the shipping and handling but also the storage of the units until they are installed. Previously, all of the basins were protected using a wood-and-wire crate system, says John Price, purchasing agent for American Standard Brands, FIAT Products. “With wooden boxes, the creosote or sap can seep out of the wood over a period of time and stain the product,” Price says.

For the mop basins, the supplier created an engineered solution (Laminations, laminationsonline.com) that actually replaced its own laminated paperboard packaging with a heavy-duty plastic version that better stands up to the elements. The new 100% waterproof solution was lighter and less expensive than wood crates and eliminated the problem of seepage from the wood staining the terrazzo.

The supplier recently created a customized patent-pending version that Price is now testing in which extruded plastic legs are riveted to the plastic frame pieces with two hinged legs on alternating corners. “With this solution, associates flip the hinged legs out and fit a cover with extended legs over the top of the basin,” Price says. “They then flip the basin over mechanically and put the other cover piece with extended legs on the bottom of the basin. Now all four corners and the top and bottom have protection.” The final step is stretch wrapping.

“With the riveted legs already attached, we also can eliminate taping because the legs stay in place during the stretch wrapping, which holds everything together,” Price says. “It achieves our goals of protection and quicker assembly.”

In initial testing, the time to package the basins was cut by more than half. In addition, the package eliminates the need for taping to hold the corner protectors in place during assembly, further cutting labor and material expenses.