Plastic shippers are pretty for personal-care retailer: beauty supply store chain saves money and improves delivery accuracy with reusable HDPE shipping cases

Food & Drug Packaging, Dec, 2002

State Service Systems Inc., a division of Beauty Alliance of Clearwater, Fla., has built an extensive network of beauty supply stores spanning 15 states since opening for business in 1954. The company directly distributes to more than 240 independent distributors and company-owned locations weekly.

The State Service distribution facility encompasses 114,000 square feet of warehouse space and employs a staff of 85. This facility inventories more than 14,000 products that vary in size and shape. Product lines featured include Matrix, Redken, Farouk Systems, Joico, ARTec, Creative Nail Design, OPI and Supre. In the last quarter of 2000, State Service undertook a plant-wide modernization to improve customer service and reduce operating costs.

From the beginning, the company faced serious issues. State Service was shipping 150,000 corrugated boxes a month. Corrugated boxes, tape and bubble wrap were draining the company's operating budget. Packing slips would run to as many as 90 pages for each shipment, making it almost impossible for customers to determine which boxes contained high-traffic or critical items. Damage and theft also caused substantial losses.

State Service began to streamline its system and, after some research, contacted Monoflo International inc., a manufacturer of reusable plastic container systems.

State settled on Monoflo's DC2515-14 container. The heavy duty 100% virgin high-density polyethylene has the strength to endure harsh conditions. This container is higher than others used in similar applications, allowing it to hold taller shampoo-type bottles upright.

Once State Service had a standardized container system in place, it implemented a quality verification system by establishing a database of all 14,000 of its products by weight. The company now can verify each order simply by weighing the fully packed container, This method virtually eliminated shortage complaints. Currently, State has 98% order accuracy and has a goal of 99.7% or better once the modernization project is complete.

Initially, the plan called for 20,000 containers, which would guarantee a substantial inventory for shipment with an estimated 21-day turnaround. With eager customer participation and a return-shipping label provided by State Service, the average turnaround time was reduced to 14 days.

Additionally, State Service and its trucking firms were able to find room for the returns without sacrificing valuable floor space, making the return cost-free for State. Turnpike Transit, one of State Service's preferred trucking partners, found that the ease with which their drivers can now load, unload and verify shipments far outweighs the cost of returning the totes.

"We originally projected a one-year return on our investment using these containers for the initial justification of this project," says Russell Walz, State Service's distribution manager. The actual return on the investment was met in less than six months." In fact, this program has reduced State's packaging costs by $130,000 and labor costs by $100,000.

IN A NUTSHELL

Goal:      Reduce shipping costs,
           improve order accuracy

How:       Replace corrugated cases
           with reusable plastic shippers

Results:   $230,000 savings with
           98% accuracy

For more information

Monoflo International 540-665-1691 www.monoflodirect.com