Vistaflex cushioning package for IKON wraps up a WorldStar
Sealed Air Corp.'s (Danbury, CT) Vistaflex engineered inflatable packaging — developed for IKON Office Solutions' return program of remanufactured laser printer toner cartridges — has won a WorldStar Packaging Award in the Retail: Consumer Electronics category.
The WorldStar Packaging Awards are presented by the World Packaging Organisation. To qualify for entry in the WorldStar Awards, a package design must first win a national award, such as the Institute of Packaging Professionals' AmeriStar Awards. This protective package was recently awarded a "Best of Category" AmeriStar Award.
WorldStar Packaging Award entries are judged based on design innovation, protection, economics, performance, marketing and environmental impact. This year's judging took place in early October in Goteberg, Sweden, during the ScanPack 2000 trade show. The winners were selected by a panel of judges comprised of world packaging leaders from the WPO.
Cushioning with ‘ease of use'
The Vistaflex toner cartridge package was developed by Sealed Air Corp.'s Special Products Group for toner cartridges supplied by IKON Office Solutions, one of the world's leading providers of products and services that help businesses communicate. IKON operates an internal business unit that remanufactures more than 140,000 Hewlett-Packard, Canon and other laser printer and fax toner cartridges per year. The company needed a packaging system that provided cushioning while retaining the ``ease of use'' benefits required for its toner cartridge return program.
"The package design definitely needed to address the unique requirements of the toner cartridge market. Toner cartridges exist in a myriad of sizes that are irregularly shaped and have delicate plastic components. And, they must be protected from hermetic damage that could result in a messy toner leak during shipping," said Steve Schultz, vice president of sales and marketing for Sealed Air Corp.'s Special Products Group.
Vistaflex is the first inflated solution of its kind to address the unique requirements of toner cartridges. Sealed Air Corp. worked with IKON to create a versatile package that offers superior protection and aesthetics, is easy to use, reduces storage by 95%, and is recyclable with #4-LDPE materials.
‘A-frame' to fit toner
The resulting package design consists of two inflated end-cap cushions, each forming a self-adjusting "A-frame" that fits toner cartridges of varying sizes — nine toner cartridge models remanufactured by IKON and 15 additional models available elsewhere on the market.
Vistaflex packaging is manufactured using a barrier film specially formulated to prevent air loss, while maintaining cushion performance properties for more than one year. Both the film and cushion shaping have been developed to withstand climatic hazards normally encountered in the distribution handling environment. The integrity of the package was subjected to various tests by both Sealed Air Corp. and IKON, and met all necessary standards.
The Vistaflex toner cartridge packaging is projected to reduce IKON's damage losses, totaling as much as $40,000 per year, that the company has incurred with its previous corrugated inserts. IKON also has already benefited from substantial material handling and storage efficiencies with the Vistaflex packaging. For example, a pallet of Vistaflex toner cartridge cushions can pack 12,000 toner cartridges, compared to only 1,000 units per pallet with corrugated inserts. This translates into a 95% reduction in required warehouse space for IKON.
This year's WorldStar Awards will be presented during a ceremony in the United Kingdom during the British packaging show PAKEX on April 2, 2001. Criteria used for judging include innovation in design, protection, economics, performance, marketing and environmental impact.
For more information:
Sealed Air Corporation, Tel: 800-229-4539, Fax: 201-712-7019
World Packaging Organisation: Website: www.packinfo-world.org
Edited by Bill Noone
Managing Editor, PackagingNetwork.com
bnoone@packagingnetwork.com