Freight damage creates delays and cuts into profits. It negatively impacts end users, dealers, and Draper. That’s why Draper invested in finding a robust solution to reduce the occurrence of damage.
“We are impacted by delays to our projects and the embarrassment of having to go to our customers and explain why a project is not completed in time,” said Sean Fader, CTS, materials manager for AVCON. “Also it can involve extra cost to us in labor time and travel time, in that it may involve extra trips to a project site and extra scheduling with the customer.”
Projection screens are candidates for freight damage because of their basic shape. They are long, but with a small profile. Some screens—especially larger models—are heavy enough to require a forklift, which introduces another chance for damage to occur.
“Usually, it’s the end of a box from a drop or compression, or forklift damage,” said Bruce Banbury, the Principal and Founding Partner of Unified AV Systems. “We’ve had screen boxes with obvious holes in them from forklifts or boxes that are torn open.”
Although Draper ships large projection screens in custom-built wooden crates, most screens have traditionally been shipped in corrugated cardboard boxes. While Draper tried various methods of packing and protecting screens from inside the box, damage continued to occur.
“The previous freight damage was showing up as scraped and creased cartons, with sections of the cardboard ripped off in shipping,” said Draper Customer Service Manager Beverly Ferguson. “The internal product was being affected by this rough treatment by carriers.”
After researching solutions to the freight damage problem, Draper decided to move away from corrugated cardboard, to a new way of packaging projection screens. Fiberwrap®—unlike standard corrugated cardboard, which has air pockets—has a solid core. This gives it 250 percent to 300 percent greater beam strength than corrugated packaging.
Draper sent test shipments to several dealers around the United States to see how FiberWrap performed. Based on the success of those tests, Draper now ships all screens in our Access family using the new FiberWrap packaging.
“The FiberWrap cartons are a strong material and deflect more of the hits they take during transit,” Ferguson said. “We also have added solid wood ends to the carton to take more of the shock if hit on the ends. This also supports the structure at the ends of the carton.”
“My first reaction was that the newer packaging seemed more robust and durable,” said AVCON’s Fader. “I would say that it may have improved the likelihood of screens arriving to us in better condition.”
Draper’s freight damage claims have dropped to less than 1% since introducing the FiberWrap cartons.
“The new FiberWrap is holding its structure well enough that even if there are scrapes and holes the product inside is still being protected,” Ferguson said. “We unfortunately cannot eliminate all damage as fork lifts or product skids being pushed into the FiberWrap cartons can still cause damage, but we are looking forward to incorporating more of our product lines into the FiberWrap shipping program.”
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