Packaging: Sustainable packaging protects sensitive products in transit

Justice Design Group is a leader in ceramic decorative lighting design and manufactures custom lighting fixtures to order. Because product damage can cause significant costs and delays, the company places a high priority on product protection. By employing a loose fill packaging solution made from non-food renewable materials, the company was able to reduce shipping and materials costs, improve product protection and boost worker comfort.

“Our products are highly customizable, which means we have to manufacture them again if they are broken in-transit,” explains Brandon Levin, president of Justice Design Group. “Damage can be particularly costly to our business. The fact that the loose fill is an affordable, sustainable material that can keep our costs down by maintaining low claims rates and reducing the weight of our shipments is huge to us.”

Prior to the new, certified compostable loose fill packaging, the company used an interlocking corrugate solution for blocking and bracing of fragile products. “We found that our employees had a hard time handling the previous packaging solution, which required them to wear gloves for protection against the sharp edges of the interlocking pieces,” says Levin. “Our fixtures have a lot of curves and pressure points, and this new product can easily get into those areas to protect and support them.”

To ensure the loose fill adequately protected its products, the company conducted initial drop tests and cost analyses internally, at the supplier’s Packaging Design Center, and with a third party. After three months of testing, the company began integrating the solution slowly into their shipping at the end of 2011. The company tracked each package to ensure performance, and by the beginning of 2012 it had completely switched over to the new packaging. The company now packs 300 to 900 packages a day.

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