When a mobility aid provider moved its fulfilment operations to Wakefield to work in partnership with Toiletry Sales Ltd (TSL), they needed a holistic review of their packaging operations. Despatching around 1,600 mobility aids every day, both direct to customers and to partners in the NHS and healthcare sector, their priority was efficiency balanced with protection for their goods, to avoid the costs of damage and the impact on patients and customers.
Toiletry Sales Ltd has historically specialised in shipping goods by the pallet to major retailers, whereas the Independent Provider of Mobility and Disability Aids 17,000 individual product lines, ranging from large commode chairs to small radar keys, needed to be sent direct to customers. Many products are fragile, and it was imperative that customers received them on time and without any damage. Plus, with Royal Mail handling all collection and delivery, we needed to make packages fit with their standard mail cages.
Our Total Packaging Management Service provides TSL with everything they need to pack and despatch CCS’s product range. Our consultation meant we could get to grips with the operation and recommend a tailored solution, which includes providing a full range of cardboard boxes that are just the right size for each product, reducing packaging and shipping costs, and durable, waterproof Tourer mailing bags for lighter items.
We advised on the set-up of seven new packing stations using air pillow void fill machines, which deliver easy-tear plastic pockets automatically filled with air to protect products in transit. We also introduced our E-tape Silver, which doesn’t break when being passed through a tape gun and uses extra-strong adhesive, for a really robust final package.
“At the moment it’s really difficult to predict what packaging we’ll need from one week to the next. With no clear buying pattern, we need to be able to get hold of packaging fairly quickly when stocks run low. With Hazel 4D’s TPM service I just pick up the phone and arrange a delivery the next day. There’s no arranging payment or purchase orders to raise. Our H4D Account Manager comes over once a fortnight to check our stock and see how things are going. He’s been proactive in anticipating our needs before they become an issue which is exactly what is needed in a business that’s growing at such a significant rate like this one. I feel assured that we’re in safe hands.”
Warehouse Supervisor
