The unusual is standard fare at Western Industries.
When we tell someone that we specialize in custom packaging, it’s not uncommon for people to think of a brightly colored, possibly odd-shaped box on a store shelf. It’s certainly true that Western Industries has the know-how needed to make some pretty snazzy commercial packaging, but when we say custom, we aren’t joking. When our customers need a custom design it’s usually because what they need simply isn’t available anywhere else.
To get a feel for just how outside-the-box our custom work can be, here are some highlights.
Some people say, “No job is too big,” but we have to wonder if they actually mean it. We recently had a client in the oil and gas industry that needed some drilling equipment crated for transport. The crate we built was a simple, cleated panel wooden design, but getting a crate to keep its structure over such an extreme length takes a bit of experience and engineering know-how. Our crew doesn’t go around boasting about how they can tackle any job, they just get busy making enormous pieces like the one pictured here and let the finished product speak for itself.
In addition to custom packing and containers, we can take those designs one step further to help you maximize your space. Having a packing shape that makes the most of valuable room inside a warehouse or in the back of a trailer can be the difference between lean-and-mean efficiency or the kind of supply chain sluggishness that can drag down your momentum and mess up your bottom line. This picture shows a packing design we did for renewable energy company. The triplewall corrugated paper offers strength while still being light enough to be stackable. (A triplewall corrugated container like these can hold up to 2,500 pounds of parts, and they’re still stackable!) The sizes of these containers has also been optimized to cube out a 53’ dryvan. This deceptively simple design is actually a great way to meet a number of different criteria for our client.
Some days it’s not all boxes and crates. These giant HVAC components were shrink-wrapped with robust sheeting that’s equal parts lightweight and durable. The durable nature of the equipment and its distribution environment allowed us to forego building a crate, instead opting for the much lighter plastic exterior. Building wooden crates for a truck-load of these units would have added thousands of extra pounds and thousands of dollars to the shipment. This plan allowed us to keep costs down while maximizing space. This is a great example of how being able to work on large-scale pieces with industry-leading materials provides real savings to our customers.
This last piece isn’t the biggest or the flashiest, but it’s a great example of what you can expect when you work with some of the best professionals in the packaging business. What you’re looking at here is a tool kit designed for use in the electric car market. The kit is housed in a custom-built container that provides dedicated spaces for each component. Each compartment is sized perfectly inside a layout that makes the best use of available space. Industry leading foam cushioning provides ample protection inside a crate made with the time-honored strength of solid wood for reusability. This piece shows what a true pro can do by blending traditional and modern materials.
What’s the one piece that you’re struggling with? Is it a notoriously un-stackable item in your warehouse or is it something that breaks too easily in transit? We love a challenge, so reach out to Western Industries and let us build a container that pleases warehouse managers, shippers, accountants, and customers.