Textbook fulfillment house switches to Packaging Foam in place air cushioning system
products/equipment:
Air Speed 5000 inflatable void-fill system and EP Flex™ Renew™ air pillow film
Project Overview:
A privately held, education-based corporation headquartered in the southeast provides textbooks, trade and reference books to the K through 12 and college markets. To help protect its books in transit, the company had been using Storopack void-fill systems in tandem with overhead accumulation bins for the past several years. We were able to offer a superior alternative by providing faster equipment coupled with environmentally preferred pillow film. Four
Storopack units were replaced by three Air Speed 5000s.
Air Speed 5000 system is fast enough (80 to 90, 8- x 6-inch air pillows per minute) so that overhead bins are no longer necessary. By taking down the bins, the warehouse employees are now benefitting from improved air flow, more sunlight and three fewer overhead “dust collectors.” The installation was customized with a four foot transfer bin extender for each Air Speed 5000. That enables the packers to conveniently access the pillow pack and place it into the box without stretching or leaving the station.
On the material side of the picture, EP Flex Renew also supported the customer’s environmental position. Since the company works with a large number of academic institutions and also contract packages for another environmentally-conscious text book e-seller, it was interested in the value proposition EP Flex Renew provided. The high performance low-density polyethylene air pillow film is made with up to significantly less resin than competitive inflatable void-fill products. It also contains a bio-additive that accelerates degradation, without compromising recyclability.
The win was made possible because of a combination of equipment superiority (speed), material profile (less resin/ higher performance), improved working environment for employees.
