Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

applications

Flush with success

Problems with product damage led plumbing wholesaler Ferguson to seek a new way to package its porcelain toilets. An innovative custom solution solved the problem—and cut labor and materials costs to boot.

Flush with success

As a large plumbing supplies wholesaler with nationwide distribution, Newport News, Va.-based Ferguson Enterprises Inc. is an expert not only at providing top-quality parts, but also at delivering them to customers in mint condition.

Some inventory items are tougher to ship than others, however, and in recent months, the $15 billion company found it was experiencing high damage rates for the heavy porcelain toilets it was shipping via a ground carrier.


In an effort to cut down on the expense of replacing and reshipping those goods, Ferguson turned to its packaging supplier, Salt Lake City-based Packsize LLC, for help. The two firms have partnered since 2012 on packaging solutions and often collaborate on ways to improve shipping techniques.

After analyzing the problem of packaging fragile toilets for safe transit, Packsize recommended a complete overhaul of Ferguson's existing packaging method—a process that involved inserting quick-setting foam into cardboard boxes and which was messy, expensive, and not particularly environmentally friendly. In its place, the company proposed a streamlined solution that would provide better product protection and be much easier to execute: Ferguson would simply create a custom-sized box for every item shipped—using Packsize's On Demand Packaging software and Packsize box-making machine—and then add foam corners made of low-density polyethylene foam.

"Of the many different protective packaging options in the market, we chose to go with polyethylene foam corners because of how well they work with our 'right-size' packaging machinery," said Brandon Henderson, director of systems engineering at Packsize. "We designed a custom corner that can work with Ferguson's spectrum of products and at the same time, reduce material and labor costs while increasing sustainability."

Before launching the new system, Packsize and Ferguson tested the proposed design by doing drop tests and also shipping actual toilets. The results were solid enough to convince the plumbing supplier to put the

TIME AND COST SAVINGS

As for how it's all working out, the new system has done exactly what it was intended to do: reduce shipping damage. Since Ferguson switched to the new packaging, breakage rates have dropped from 5.33 percent to 4.0 percent. That alone would justify the change, but according to Packsize, the benefits don't end there. Along with reducing damage, the new method has slashed packaging material costs by 61 percent, cut the time it takes workers to pack each toilet by 78 percent, and streamlined Ferguson's carton configuration options from four to one. In addition, the foam corners use 85 percent less plastic foam and are suitable for curbside recycling programs.

"Our customers are looking for the most cost-effective means of getting their product to their end users. If fragility happens to be a factor in the shipment, we have found that our Packsize corners are the best option out there to reduce damage to product being shipped," Henderson said. "This solution also helps [shippers respond to] the Amazon effect—it allows you to focus on fulfilling the customer's order as quickly and accurately as possible, rather than having to worry about issues that [are of little concern to] the customer, such as protective packaging."

The Latest

More Stories

photos of forklifts in warehouses

2025 IFOY Awards nominees announced

Seventeen innovative products and solutions from eleven providers have reached the nomination round of the IFOY Award 2025, an international competition that brings together the best new material handling products for warehouses and distribution center operations.

The nominees this year come from six different countries and will compete head-to-head during a Test Camp that will be held March 26 and 27 in Dortmund, Germany. The Test Camp allows hands-on evaluation and testing of products based on engineering and operational design. In contrast to the usual display of products at a trade show, The Test Camp also allows end-users and visitors to the event the opportunity to experience these technologies hands-on as they would operate in a facility.

Keep ReadingShow less

Featured

Happy interesting New Year

While Christmas is always my favorite time of the year, I have always been something of a Scrooge when it comes to celebrating the New Year. It is traditionally a time of reflection, where we take stock of our lives and make resolutions to do better. I’ve always felt that I really didn’t need a calendar to remind me to kick my bad habits in favor of healthier routines. If I was not already doing something that was good for me, then making promises I probably won’t keep after a few weeks is not really helpful.

But as we turn the calendar to 2025, there is a lot to consider this new year. The election is behind us, and it will be interesting to see how supply chains react to the new administration. We’ve been told to expect sharp increases in tariffs, like those the president-elect issued in his first term. Will these cause the desired shift away from goods made in China?

Keep ReadingShow less
a blurred image of a forklift in a warehouse

Lift Truck Roundtable: An inside look at a volatile market

Roundtable participants:

MARTIN BOYD, CMO, Big Joe Forklifts

Keep ReadingShow less
trends in robotics

IFR: five trends will drive robot growth through 2025

As the global market value of industrial robot installations passes its all-time high of $16.5 billion, five trends will continue to drive its growth through 2025, according to a forecast from the International Federation of Robotics (IFR).

That is important because the increased use of robots has the potential to significantly reduce the impact of labor shortages in manufacturing, IFR said. That will happen when robots automate dirty, dull, dangerous or delicate tasks – such as visual quality inspection, hazardous painting, or heavy lifting—thus freeing up human workers to focus on more interesting and higher-value tasks.

Keep ReadingShow less
photo of containers at port of montreal

Port of Montreal says activities are back to normal following 2024 strike

Container traffic is finally back to typical levels at the port of Montreal, two months after dockworkers returned to work following a strike, port officials said Thursday.

Canada’s federal government had mandated binding arbitration between workers and employers through the country’s Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) in November, following labor strikes on both coasts that shut down major facilities like the ports of Vancouver and Montreal.

Keep ReadingShow less