When someone needs supplies to make wine or beer at home, they can turn to LD Carslon for the resources they need. Over the course of half a century, LD Carlson has earned its place as the leading U.S. wholesale distributor of home brewing and wine making supplies.
Those supplies include the company’s 5-gallon plastic Ale Pails and Vino Vessels, both of which can be seen in specialty shops throughout the country. However, LD Carlson had a few packaging issues involving the Ale Pails and Vino Vessels that required some outside help from a trustworthy packaging distributor.
The Challenge
While the Ale Pails and Vino Vessels are staples for some home brewers and wine makers, the plastic pails and lids were a continual challenge for LD Carlson. The main issue is that the pails and lids came from two different locations. This situation led to inconsistent inventory management and frequent stock lapses during holidays and sales spikes.
Another issue was that the pails and lids also needed to be customized before hitting the market. This process required the company to drill holes in the pails and lids and place grommets in the new holes. The manual process was done by LD Carlson employees, but this practice just took people away from their jobs where they could help grow the business instead of providing separate tasks.
The Solution
After enough trouble with the inventory management and manual labor issues, LD Carlson turned to Pipeline Packaging to streamline their pail and lid situation. Once we took over the project and identified possible solutions, we proposed two strategies:
- Pipeline would warehouse all the pails and lids, managing the inventory requirement and releasing them when LD Carlson needed stock. This solution would keep the pails and lids in one convenient location that could provide just-in-time packaging delivery to keep LD Carlson’s warehouse space free while ensuring that the company wouldn’t run out of stock during those valuable holiday periods and sales spikes.
- We would also take over the packaging customization and assembly process for the plastic pails and lids. To make it more efficient, we would build a machine that quickly and cleanly punches holes and inserts the necessary grommets. Not only would this free up LD Carlson employees, it would also shorten the total amount of manual labor required to complete the customization of the Ale Pails and Vino Vessels.
The Results
After implementing both solutions, LD Carlson was thrilled with the results. Since Pipeline took over warehouse management and just-in-time delivery of the pails and lids, the home brewing company has enjoyed consistent stock despite holidays, bad weather, and sales spikes. In addition, the new pneumatic machine meant that LD Carlson employees who spent their time behind a drill press can now focus on their main goal – growing sales and production of their high-quality products while a new process provides efficient packaging customization for a pair of key items.
Are you looking for a packaging distributor that can help streamline internal processes and solve supply issues? Check out our available packaging products online or contact us today to talk to one of our experts today.
For customer, LD Carlson, Pipeline Packaging custom punches holes in their pail and lid, insert grommets, warehouses the finished pails and then provides Just in Time Delivery. This frees the customer’s human resources and warehouse space for product fulfillment.
Pipeline Packaging custom built a pneumatic machine that would punch holes in both the 5-gallon plastic pails and lids according to LD Carlson’s specs.
