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Posts Tagged ‘reusable shipping crates’

Product Strength Tests

Reusable Shipping Crates

This past summer I had the privilege of taking my family camping. We have this great spot tucked away in the Rocky Mountains next to a small lake where there are tons of trout. This was also a time of great revelation for me. You see, the day before the camping trip, rather than purchasing a real cooler or icebox, I bought one of those two-dollar Styrofoam coolers. When we reached our camping spot the whole corner of that cheap cooler was blown out, just from the weight of the food inside, and a couple of sleeping bags on top. That day I discovered that I would never buy one of those cheap coolers again, and that when you buy something cheap, your wife interprets it as that, you’re cheap. In other words, nobody wants to buy products that aren’t strong enough to perform their job, and if you use products that don’t perform properly, it reflects badly on you.

Having a product that nobody wants to buy may as well be a tombstone for a business. However, there are also a lot of benefits that come with having a product that is well tested. Some of these benefits include:

  • More confident sales team – it helps to know your selling a good product
  • Creates Positive word of mouth exposure
  • Creates customer loyalty, which equals more sales.
  • A strong product means less damaged goods and happier customer

Here at SnapCrate, strong product design is something we are very passionate about, and we dedicate ourselves to implementing strong and designs for wooden shipping crates. But I’ll try not to get on my soapbox. Still, it is so easy to see that taking a little time and even some money to strength test your product is worth it, and we have found two great ways to do it:

First, have your product tested by an unbiased third party that will properly investigate your product and give you the results. Third party testing will let you know what your product can handle, giving you confidence in what you can expect from your product, and show you areas to improve it.

Second, test your products in-house. At SnapCrate we have a lot of fun testing our the strength and durability of our wooden shipping crates in-house. This kind of testing gives us a fun way to present our product, while uniting our whole team, and collecting great feedback.

If you want, go ahead and check out some of our strength test videos to see how we have done this. If you have any experiences or tests of your own, we would love to know about it.

Saving Money = Asking Questions

reusable shipping cratesWith the recent economic challenges, one thing on everyone’s mind is how to save money. So how do we save money? One common strategy is to simply eliminate as many expenses as possible, which can be very effective, but often times forces us to compromise the quality or method which we make our product. A better strategy is to question. Rather than trying to accomplish the same tasks as before, but with fewer resources, ask employees and customers how to make the most of the processes, materials, products, and services you currently use. This more proactive approach is a great opportunity to save money without reducing the value of your products or services.

Converting a company into a money saving machine is usually not a task that just one person can handle. This is why a great place to start is to ask employees and customers where they see areas that could be improved. Some good ways to go about this are to conduct a survey targeted for feedback about processes that can be improved or to have an employee meeting to openly discuss challenging or wasteful processes. You might be surprised at

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Charge a Deposit to Go Green

Reusable Shipping Crates

Reusable Shipping CratesMany of us remember the days of returning the glass Coca Cola bottles for the deposit we paid on the front end. Getting a reusable shipping crate back can work the same. The one big difference is that your reusable crates and packing materials are worth more than just a few cents. Verbally tell your customers that you are moving on from a disposable system to a more environmentally friendly, reusable system. Let them know that they will be charged for the crate on their invoice, and upon returning it; they will be credited for the reusable shipping crate. These charges need to be clear on the invoice, with its own separate line item. Everybody is feeling the push to use sustainable products. Few will argue with a company that is honestly trying to do its part.

Your customers will appreciate your efforts, and will work with you to get that packaging back. No president or CEO is going to raise a ruckus about saving money on disposal costs, either!