Posted by Jim Kulbeth on Fri, May 21, 2010
Custom plastic containers, or cut and welded con
tainers, cost more per unit than a standard container that your products fit into "pretty good." So why should you pay more for a custom container? We'll give you 4 good reasons and try to make you a believer.
1. The most expensive thing you can store and ship is air. When your products fit into an off-the-shelf container "pretty good", chances are you have many air pockets that you can eliminate with a custom plastic container.
2. If you stop packing "air" into your containers, you're going to be able to pack and ship more product per cubic foot, meaning your transportation costs are going to go down. Whether its a sea container, train, or tractor trailer, you'll be cubing out the space with product, not with air.
3. A custom plastic container can be built to fit your product perfectly. This is going to result in less product damage during shipping.
4. Loading and unloading parts or products into a custom container is going to be much easier, and require less time since the container is built specfically for the application. Your product is 104.5 inches long....a custom plastic container can be built to hold items 104.5 inches long.
Custom, cut and welded plastic containers are not the solution to every storage and shipping application, but if you're "making your product fit" into off-the-shelf containers it may be time to weigh the alternative.
Posted by Jim Kulbeth on Fri, Feb 05, 2010
"Going Green" can be an expensive undertaking, especially for a small business, and when this transition is not monetarily feasible you have to think outside the box to improve your environmental performance. We are currently employing activities that include waste minimization and recycling as well as modifying our products to be utilized in completely new markets.
In 2008 the price of oil skyrocketed and so did the price of plastic. As a result of this we were forced to rethink our business model. We've been buying back used bulk bins, refurbishing them and reselling back into the same markets they came out of to be used again. However, we found that a great deal of the used containers that we were buying were no longer suitable for the 
job for which they were designed, and could not cost effectively be repaired.
Typically in this situation these containers would be sent to the re-grinders to be reprocessed, or they would become plastic refuse.
Thinking outside the box, what we have done to extend the life of these otherwise unusable containers, is to retrofit them with hoppers and sell them as cost effective and long-lasting grain and feed hoppers for horses and other livestock. We've also been retrofitted them with slow feeder tops, and they're being used as hay feeders. Our new customers are happy, the "new" containers will withstand a lot of abuse from animals, and we've put the old containers into the type of use where they can be used another 5-10 years.
These are some of the new and ever-changing innovations from Universal Package Systems showing our dedication to the customer and environment.