Case study

Reducing damage and costs for domestic furniture manufacturer

Industry

Furniture

Solution

Damage Reduction

The problem

A U.S.-based furniture manufacturer partnered with us to reduce damage during transit. We were challenged to do that without increasing shipping and material costs. Our designs also needed to be optimized for both LTL and FTL supply chains.

Our approach

Rather than just looking at the damage and suggesting they strengthen the obvious areas of concern in the existing packaging, our “boots on the ground” approach allowed us to isolate where and why the damage was happening.

We looked at the manufacturing site, the point of packaging, and followed the package’s journey to the customer. We also factored the time it took to package the furniture, as well as how easy the packaging was to install.

Outcome

We proceeded with design options, and tested those options on the same journey. The result was our ability to significantly reduce the rate of damage, with a reduction in material costs and no increase in shipping costs.

Results

10%

Reduction in material costs

.5%

Rate of damage (previously 6%)

$0

Increase in shipping costs