CASE STUDY NO. 9615
KEY WORDS WALL PANELS, OFFICE; UNCARTONED, SEE-THROUGH PACKAGE
Artec Manufacturing
Division of Kimball International
1037 E. 15th Street
Jasper, IN 47549-1007
Contact: Lynn Bateman, Packaging Engineer. Tel: 812-482-8251 Fax: 812-482-8730
Summary
Fabric-covered modular wall panels, previously packaged for shipment in a paper wrapper inside a corrugated box, now are shipped "uncartoned," with corrugated side caps, top and bottom pads, and horizontal stretch wrap. Material cost has been reduced 20%, and labor has been reduced 30%.
Action
The Artec Division manufactures modular office wall panels of steel and fabric. A typical panel will measure 36 x 3 x 68 inches and weigh 70 pounds. The old method of shipping a panel was to wrap it in paper, protect the corners with corrugated blocks, and place the panel inside a double-wall corrugated box for shipment.
Technological advances in logistical packaging techniques plus a growing emphasis at Artec and its customers on reduction of shipping and disposal costs led to the development of the new method of packaging wall panels for shipment. Now, corrugated caps are placed on the corners of panels and then secured by wrapping in a horizontal stretch wrapper. The stretch film is 30-inches wide, cling-one-side. Two workers are required to lift panels onto the line and place the protective corrugated; a third worker operates the stretch-wrapping machine. Panels are moved by pallet to the truck trailer and there removed from the pallet and loaded individually, on edge, onto a padded floor. All panels for a job are stowed together.
The success of this shipment method owes much to adoption in the furniture industry of F-Packs (furniture packs), which eliminate most of the old corrugated box by substituting corner protection along with a total wrap in transparent film. This "clear-view" or "see-through" package has resulted in reduced damage to products in transit, which has been attributed to greater awareness of contents and care in handling.
Payback
Artec invested approximately $100,000 in new machinery to convert to the use of an uncartoned, see-through package for its modular wall panels. Materials costs were reduced by 20%, and labor costs reduced by about 30%. The combination of all savings enabled the company to recover its investment in 12 months.
Additional waste prevented
Artec calculates it has reduced the package weight of a modular wall panel by 18%.
This translates into transportation fuel savings. Artec's customers have much less
packaging material to dispose of than previously. Rising interest in the recovery and
recycling of stretch film promises to divert growing quantities out of this material from
the landfill. One major U.S. chemical company now offers bins for consignee locations
where large volumes of used stretch film can be gathered.