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Packaging quality and damage reduction

Stop paying twice for the same order.

When a shipment shows up broken, you pay for the product, the freight, the rush replacement, and the phone call. We find out where it's breaking and why, then redesign the package and prove the fix works.

A cardboard shipping box crushed and torn in transit

Does this sound like you?

"We know we have a damage problem. We don't know how big it is."
"Our claims keep getting denied and we just eat the cost."
"One customer complains constantly. Everyone else seems fine."
"We added more filler. It didn't help."
"Nobody here is a packaging engineer."
Most companies we help had never put a real number on damage before we started.

What damage really costs you

Most companies count the broken product and stop there. That's the small part.

WATERLINE 4X WHAT YOU SEE The broken product WHAT YOU ACTUALLY PAY Return freight Replacing the product Expedited freight to make up lost time Claim paperwork Customer service time The reorder that never comes Usually about 4× the value of the product itself.
1% to 3% of parcel shipments arrive damaged. Up to 11% of pallet loads reach a distribution center with some damage.
About half of shoppers won't order again after receiving a damaged item.
The true cost is usually about 4 times the value of the product itself, once everything under the waterline is counted.
Industry figures. Your real numbers will be different — measuring them is step two.

How we work

Four steps. We measure first, then we fix.

Free call
30 minutes

1. Free call

Tell us what breaks, where it breaks, and how often. We tell you whether we can help. Sometimes the answer is no, and we'll say so.

Damage diagnostic
About 2 weeks

2. Damage diagnostic

We review any damage records, claims, and photos you collect. We look at how your product is packed, stored, and shipped. Then we map your whole supply chain and mark every hazard on it, so you can see what hazards are likely breaking your product and where. Where full supply chain mapping isn't applicable, baseline transit testing in an ISTA laboratory is completed to identify which hazard types are contributing to the damage.

Redesign for the need
2 to 4 weeks

3. Redesign for the need

Our engineers redesign the package around the hazards we found, not around guesses. More protection where the risk is real. Less material where it isn't. You get more than one concept to choose from.

Prototype and validate
2 to 4 weeks

4. Prototype and validate

We build prototypes and put them through transit testing: drops, vibration, and compression. You see proof the design holds up before you spend a dollar on a production run.

What's a transit test?

It's a standard lab test that copies what a package goes through on a truck: drops, vibration, and the weight of everything stacked on top. If your package survives the test, it survives the trip. It costs far less to fail in a lab than in your customer's warehouse.

What you get

DAMAGE DIAGNOSTIC $412,000 estimated annual cost of damage YOUR SUPPLY CHAIN, HAZARDS MARKED PlantCustomer LIKELY CAUSES, RANKED 1Pallet compression in transit 2Corner drops at the cross-dock 3Vibration wear on long hauls Figures shown are sample data. Prepared by BoldtSmith Packaging SAMPLE

Your damage diagnostic report

What damage is costing you each year, a map of your supply chain with every hazard type marked, and the likely causes ranked.

REDESIGN Design concepts Concept A Lightest option,less cushioning Concept B Right-sized, cutsmaterial + freight Concept C Max protection,+8% material RECOMMENDED TRADE-OFFS AT A GLANCE ABC ProtectionMaterial costFreight per unit Darker = stronger. You choose the direction. Prepared by BoldtSmith Packaging SAMPLE

New design concepts

More than one way to solve it, with the trade-offs written out. You choose the direction instead of being handed a single answer.

VALIDATION Transit test report PASS RESULTS Drop — 0.9 m, 10 faces and cornersPass Vibration — 180 min random profilePass Compression — 450 kg stacked loadPass Sample results shown. Prepared by BoldtSmith Packaging SAMPLE

A validated packaging solution

The final design, the test results that prove it survives your lanes, and drawings any supplier can quote from. We don't sell packaging, so you take them wherever you like.

Our promise

On the diagnostic: if we don't find at least three times our fee in damage cost you can recover, you don't pay for it.
We put the risk on our side at the start, because that's where you have the least reason to trust us.

What makes us different

A cardboard shipping box being formed on an automated packaging line

Packaging engineering is all we do

Damage is an engineering problem, not a purchasing one. We work in materials, structures, and transit hazards every day. That's how we find the real cause instead of telling you to add more foam.

A worker taping and loading shipping boxes into a delivery van

We map the whole trip, not just the box

Most reviews look at a package sitting on a desk. We follow your product through packing, storage, handling, and every leg of the shipment. The damage is usually happening somewhere nobody was looking.

A packaging engineer inspecting a molded carton prototype at his workbench

We prove it before you buy it

Prototypes and transit testing mean you don't fund a production run to find out whether the new design works. You see the results first.

A broken chain link, for independence

We don't sell the packaging

We are consultants. We earn nothing on what you buy, so we have no reason to recommend more material than your product needs. The drawings are yours to quote anywhere.

Is this you?

A good fit if…

  • You ship a physical product and know damage is costing you
  • You sell $10M a year or more
  • Nobody owns packaging full time, or the people who do are stretched thin
  • You ship by parcel, LTL, or full truckload

Probably not a fit if…

  • You've never had a damage complaint
  • You are unwilling to make any changes
  • You want a quick opinion on a box, not a root-cause fix
  • Your customer dictates the packaging and you can't change it

Questions people ask

We don't track damage. Can you still help?

Yes, and most companies don't. We rebuild the number from claims, credit memos, returns, and customer complaints. You'd be surprised how much of the picture is already sitting in your accounting system.

How fast will we see results?

You get a real cost number and your hazard map in about two weeks. Redesign and testing take another four to eight weeks, then normal production lead time. Most of that is testing, and that's the part worth waiting for.

Won't better packaging cost more?

Sometimes a little more material. Often less, because right-sizing cuts material and freight at the same time. We show you both numbers before you decide anything.

Do you sell the packaging too?

No. We are engineers, not a supplier. The drawings are yours and you quote them wherever you like. It also means we have no reason to recommend more material than your product needs.

Is this just about e-commerce?

No. Pallet and freight damage is often bigger and less visible than parcel damage. If you ship on pallets, that's usually where we start.

Our carrier is the problem. Can you fix that?

Partly. Carriers are rough and always will be, so the reliable fix is a package that survives them. We also help you document damage well enough that claims stop getting denied.

Find out what damage is really costing you.

Tell us what you ship and where it's breaking. We'll tell you whether there's a real problem here, roughly what it's worth, and what to do first.

Damage-Reduction-Form
Free. No sales pitch. You'll speak to someone who does this work.
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