Packaging and shipping displays for trade shows is no small feat for Volkmann, Inc. The company manufactures and displays large pneumatic vacuum conveyors, bag dump stations, unique No-Tip Unloaders and powder handling equipment.
“The equipment we display is large and requires custom-built shipping boxes that will adequately protect it,” said Lori Garrett of Volkmann at a recent trade show (PACK EXPO Las Vegas).
In the past, the company built its own boxes, spending about $800 in materials and then dedicating critical staff time to building the shipping crates. The repeated use of screws to reopen and re-close the crates would eventually denigrate the wood after about four uses, and the Volkmann staff would have to repeat the process.
Early in 2011, the company purchased custom-made crates from Quick-Crate. The sturdy reusable crates provide financial and labor savings and offer an environmentally-friendly option for shipping displays to and from trade shows. Manufactured for any size or shape product, Quick-Crates are engineered from plywood for phenomenal strength and product protection. One person can assemble or disassemble a Quick-Crate in two to three minutes with no screws, nails, or metal bands.
“We are definitely saving money in labor and materials,” said Garrett. “We love the Quick-Crates. We use them to ship all our demonstration equipment to trade shows, confident that our display merchandise is protected. And the fact that they are environmentally friendly because of their reusability is an added plus.”
When the crates are not in use, they can be broken down to about nine inches and stored with minimal space out of the way. Many Quick-Crate customers keep their crates in the booth and cover them with a cloth, using them as a display table. When the show is over, they do not have to wait for their crates to be delivered to their booths.
Quick-Crate recently exhibited at PACK EXPO in Las Vegas in September where Volkmann also had an exhibit. Quick-Crate typically sells its display crates to other exhibitors at the show who happen to stop by the booth.
“We usually sell most of our display models at the shows we attend,” said Fraser League, president, Quick-Crate. “The crates provide cost-effective shipping, great product protection, and they are easy to use. We have found that once companies understand the long-term economic and environmental benefits of reusables, they are eager to adopt them.”
To help increase awareness of reusables, Quick-Crate recently became a member of the
Reusable Packaging Association (www.reusables.org) which is focused on promoting the expansion of reusables as the preferred packaging solution across supply chains in all industries. To learn more about Quick-Crate, visit http://www.quickcrate.com/index.php