When should I look at corrugated plastic as an alternative to my paper boxes?
Corrugated plastic is a good fit for those shipping applications where the box can be re-claimed and re-used numerous times. Corrugated plastic is six to ten times more expensive than paper, BUT will last hundreds of distribution cycles. Many customers report over 500 uses. The re-use of the plastic box will dramatically reduce you distribution packaging costs by up to 90%.
What are pre-automated, automatic locking bottom or crash bottom boxes?
TCC invented the one step manufacturing process for Pre-Automated or Automatic Locking Bottom Box Designs. Also known as Crash Bottom Boxes, these boxes are very User Friendly. The bottoms of the boxes are pre-folded and glued during their high speed manufacturing process. The pre-glued bottom boxes ship knocked down flat like conventional boxes; however, all you need to do to assemble the boxes is press on opposing corners and the bottom “automatically” folds itself into place. This eliminates the previously necessary time, materials, labor and floor space required for conventional box assembly. Pre-Automated boxes streamline your packing operation without the need for any automation equipment. The same feature works in reverse, allowing the boxes to knock back down flat instantly for easy return and reuse.
I want to go with a plastic program, but don’t have the funding to initiate a capital project this year. What can I do?
No Problem. TCC has financing programs that can work within your existing paper budget where you will spend the same or slightly less than your current annual paper budget. We will structure a lease-to-own program where the payments will be less than your current paper budget and at the end of the lease, you will simply own the boxes.
How can a more expensive plastic box can save me money?
Plastic boxes will save your company money on many different levels. Typically, as long as you can reuse the boxes and have the return logistics to get them back, we will save you a tremendous amount of money. The savings comes from the reuse and the added product protection our boxes offer. Plastic boxes last hundreds of distribution cycles. If you divide the cost of the box and divide it by 200 uses, plus the cost of return freight, you should be 50-90% less than your one-way paper boxes. Looked at another way from an annual budget perspective, a plastic box program in year one will cost approximately the same as your annual paper budget. In years two and beyond, your annual cost for maintenance purposes will be about 20% of your initial purchase. In addition to the cost savings, you will pick up productivity improvements with our pre-automated designs, and do a better job of protecting goods since corrugated plastic is more durable and is unaffected by moisture or humidity.
Are pre-automated paper designs more expensive than conventional paper boxes?
YES & NO! Generally, since we end up re-designing your box with more material and added convenience features, our paper, pre-automated boxes can be more expensive to purchase, but overall, they are much less expensive to use. Most customers spend at least $0.10 to $0.20 in time, materials, labor and floor space to erect, fill, close and seal their boxes. TCC’s boxes with the pre-automated bottoms and tapeless top closures can eliminate traditional costs associated with box assembly. Your true cost of setting up, filling and shipping your traditional paper boxes is more, when measured against the initial cost difference of our boxes vs. regular paper boxes.