A brief selection of some of the projects we have worked on recently:

Asia to the UK:

Company : Independent importer of electrical goods.
Brief: Design a corrugated retail pack for components being imported from Asia and assembled in the UK.
Method: We identified the pack requirements based on display, protection and sales volume requirements. Suppliers and a graphic design company were then engaged and briefed to produce the final pack within budget constraints.

Cost reduction:

Company : Large supplier of food products to the UK retail sector
Brief: To reduce packaging costs across drum, vffs printed flexible materials and carton packs, whilst maintaining product and pack integrity and production flexibility across a multiplicity of pack brands and sizes.
Method: The cost reduction process involved the analysis of each packaging components make up and its constituent cost parts. We then provided samples and carried out converter trials, plant and retail performance tests and obtained client and retailer approval.
Result:  The exercise generated significant savings across the range of packs. The project was self funding in that the fee's charged were significantly less than the savings achieved.

Material > Machine:

Company : Producers and packers of metal products.
Brief: To propose an alternative packaging method for the product range. Whilst considering the issues of higher sales volumes, current levels of packaging defects and customer complaints.
Method: We collated data at base and identified possible area's where damage and waste was occurring. Material and Machinery suppliers were identified that could offer alternative packaging formats.
This was followed by a factory visited where the Packing lines were observed and discussion with manufacturing specialists took place.
Result: As a result of the work programme, several local issues were identified. These included previously unknown problems with the product weights and variations in Packaging material quality. Savings of over £100K were identified and discussions took place with suppliers to ensure the quality issues were addressed. An outline plan for doubling the output capacity of the plant (needed for future sales forecasts) and contact details for suppliers of alternative machinery were provided. This information was necessary to enable in-house specialist to carry out further reviews and to enable a final cap-ex to be proposed.

Legal:

Company : International Insurance Underwriters.
Brief: Investigate production, packaging and product interaction in relation to justification for product recall.
Method: Analysed production, packaging, packing and shipping documentation to establish causes for spolage.
Result: Due to the discrepancies in standards and procedures uncovered the insurance claim/payout was significantly reduced.

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