Foam cushions save drafting boards, tables from dings

Founded in 1950, Alvin & Co., a Bloomfield, CT-based importer, manufacturer and distributor of graphic arts products, drafting supplies, art supplies and office products, recently connected with Sealed Air Corp. (www.sealed air.com) in an effort to update its packaging.

In the past, Alvin & Co. used various sizes of corrugated cases to package each drafting table and drafting board separately. Paper dunnage was used for cushioning. This method, however, proved less than effective, as the company experienced damage rates ranging from 5 percent to 8 percent on shipments of the heavy products. The damaged products led to numerous customer complaints and a high volume of returns.

Philip Cebollero, principal of Ameripak, LLC, a wholesale distributor of packing and shipping supplies, approached Alvin & Co. to investigate new packaging options for the drafting boards and tables. After exploring a number of alternatives, Cebollero contacted Sealed Air to discuss possible packaging solutions.

The final result combined Instapak® GFlex® foam cushions produced by a SpeedyPacker® foam-in-bag system, an Instapak molding wheel and a preprinted, corrugated box.

The SpeedyPacker foam-in-bag system dispenses a controlled amount of Instapak GFlex foam that expands into a sealed film bag. The system is designed to dispense foam-filled bags in a variety of sizes. Once dispensed, the bag containing the expanding foam is placed into the Instapak molding wheel, which produces molded cushions of an exact shape and size, offering precise, engineered protection. When the foam finishes expanding within the mold enclosure, the operator removes the finished cushion.

In addition to the molded cushions, the new package design includes a corrugated load spreader. This 13/4- to 15/8-in. piece of corrugated board is inserted between the drafting board and each molded corner cushion. If a drop or impact occurs, the load spreader keeps the thin edge of the drafting table from piercing through the corner cushion and distributes the weight of the table over more of the cushion surface.

Each month, AmeriPAK makes 1,600 to 2,400 Instapak GFlex foam cushions and delivers them to Alvin & Co.'s facilities in Connecticut and Texas. Since the corners arrive premade, Alvin & Co. employees spend less time preparing the packaging materials, allowing them to assemble more drafting boards and tables. This helped Alvin & Co. increase productivity by 15 percent.

An additional advantage the foam cushions provide is their ability to be used with multiple drafting boards or tables. Eliminating the need for individual boxes for each board or table and moving to more standardized packaging led to an 8-percent reduction in packaging costs. Increased product protection also enabled Alvin & Co. to reduce labor in the returns department and reallocate other employees to the manufacturing line.

Sealed Air Corp., 800/568-6636. www.sealedair.com

AmeriPAK, LLC, 877/725-7879.