Case Histories
Learn more about the Fill-Air® 2000 system
Fill-Air® System is the Picture of Success for Fetco Home Decor
New inflatable void-fill packaging system solves packaging problems
for popular home-item distributor
Over the past 15 years, employees at Fetco Home Décor have designed, sourced, warehoused and distributed tabletop picture frames, decorative wall pieces and photo albums from the company's facilities in Randolph, Mass. Fetco understands the importance of protecting precious items, such as photographs and keepsakes, from damage, which is why its business demands a highly effective and dependable packaging solution for its products during shipment.
Fetco, which was originally established in 1974, is a major supplier to a number of national department and specialty stores in addition to smaller localized retailers. During the peak-season months of September, October and November, Fetco estimates that it packs and ships nearly 2,000 boxes a day nationwide.
The unique variety of Fetco products requires employees to pack boxes in a “pick and pack” manor, which involves adding a number of different size and style frames to one box before shipping to the retailer. The lack of uniformity in product size and shape results in a need for a flexible, dependable, fast and cost-effective void-fill packaging solution. Sealed Air's Fill-Air® 2000 packaging system addressed all of these needs, and equally as important, fell in line with Fetco's efforts toward environmental responsibility.
Old System Has to Go
Many of Fetco's customers require their suppliers to use air cushions as void-fill because they offer a clean alternative to loose-fill material. Suppliers that do not meet these and other packaging guidelines are subject to a charge-back from the retailer. For this reason, it was important for Fetco to find a dependable and cost-effective system for creating air cushions.
Prior to choosing the Fill-Air® 2000 packaging system, Fetco was packing with air cushions from a competing brand when the company ran into a critical issue. “We could not depend on the pillows we were using to stay inflated,” said Adrienne LeVasseur, vice president of domestic operations for Fetco Home Décor. In addition, some of the boxes require small air cushions to fit in narrow cross sections of the package. “They also did not offer a cushion size for our needs, so we were wasting money and materials by using cushions that were too big in many instances.”
A lack of speed also became a recurring problem with the former system. Fetco employees experienced downtime while waiting for pillows to inflate. “The system was not able to create cushions quickly enough to keep up with our line,” said LeVasseur.
Sealed Air Helps Packaging Process Flow
Learning of Fetco's packaging problems, a sales representative from Randolph Paper Company referred LeVasseur to Mark Bourke, the regional sales representative for Sealed Air. Bourke created a CAD (computer-aided design) drawing demonstrating how Fetco's current packaging lines could easily integrate with the Fill-Air® 2000 system without major alterations to the line.
The CAD drawing gave Fetco enough vision to go ahead with a testing process for the Sealed Air system. “It was very important that whatever solution we brought in did not require us to move the conveyor lines,” said LeVasseur. “The visual made it much easier to understand the proposed changes and it gave us a confident feeling about bringing in the machine to do the testing.”
The new plans also included alterations to Fetco's existing single-overhead drop system. “We decided to improve the single-overhead drop system by making it into a double-overhead drop system,” explained Bourke. “We knew this would allow for more packaging efficiency and less down time, especially during the company's busy season.”
Fill-Air® 2000 System Tests Like a Pro
As Sealed Air's CAD drawing had predicted, there were no major changes to the packaging line when the Fill-Air® system was introduced for testing. Employees pick and pack items into boxes, which are then subjected to quality checks and sent to the void-fill area, where operators determine how much void-fill is necessary for each individual box. The boxes then go through a tape machine before being sent to the shipping dock.
To test the Sealed Air system, Fetco conducted a one-month, side-by-side test with the Fill-Air® 2000 system and the existing system. During the testing period, they found that the Fill-Air® cushions stayed inflated and could be produced at a rate three times faster than Fetco's existing system. The existing system was producing 10 inch by 6 inch cushions at a rate of 50 to 60 cushions per minute, while the Fill-Air® 2000 system produces 8 inch by 4 inch cushions at a rate of 200 cushions a minute.
Results That Show
Fetco employees found it easier to work with the new, smaller-sized cushions and the more efficient use of materials resulted in a cost-savings of 41 percent.
“The smaller cushion size was a key benefit of the Fill-Air® 2000 system,” said LeVasseur. “The smaller size not only allowed workers to package our products in a more effective manor, but saved us time and money.”
The speed of the new system in combination with the redesigned drop system, resulted in less downtime on the line and allowed the company to get boxes to the shipping dock faster.
Environmental Impact is Low
As an environmentally conscious company, Fetco uses recyclable materials for its shipping and packaging needs. This extends to the company's corrugated items, which are all made of recyclable materials. The Fill-Air® cushions align with these environmental efforts, by reducing the amount of waste resulting from packaging. In addition, the film sealing technology of the Sealed Air bags allows them to stay inflated for more than one use. This seal integrity allows Fetco customers to reuse the air cushions for additional packaging needs.
In 2008, Sealed Air launched a recycling program for the Fill-Air® cushions that provides information to customers on how they can easily return deflated Fill-Air® cushions to a location which recycles the material.
Keeping the Customer in the Know
Sealed Air continues to maintain a strong relationship with Fetco based on frequent communication and collaboration. “We know that Sealed Air is there for us no matter what the issue,” explained LeVasseur.
In addition to providing maintenance care, Bourke continues to visit the people at Fetco to keep them abreast of new packaging technologies from Sealed Air. “We know we can bring new inflatable technologies to Fetco, and they are willing to kick the tires and try them out,” says Bourke. As Fetco Home Décor continues to expand its business and product offerings, Sealed Air continues to provide the company with effective and cost-efficient packaging solutions to meet its needs and expectations.
Learn more about the Fill-Air® 2000 system
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