The LAB: Creating New Logistics Packaging with SIT (May 2012)
Cardboard boxes are one of the most widely used forms of packaging in the world. 90% of all products are shipped or displayed in corrugated packaging at some point in their lifecycle. It’s a $57 billion dollar industry globally, but it is not growing. Could it be a lack of innovation?
For this month’s LAB, we will apply the corporate innovation method, SIT, to the corrugated box to see what potential innovations could fuel industry growth. But first, a bit of history from Wikipedia:
Corrugated (also called pleated) paper was patented in England in 1856, and used as a liner for tall hats, but corrugated boxboard was not patented and used as a shipping material until December 20, 1871. The patent was issued to Albert Jones of New York City for single-sided (single-face) corrugated board. Jones used the corrugated board for wrapping bottles and glass lantern chimneys. The first machine for producing large quantities of corrugated board was built in 1874 by G. Smyth, and in the same year Oliver Long improved upon Jones’ design by inventing corrugated board with liner sheets on both sides, thereby inventing corrugated board as it came to be known in modern times.
Students* from my Innovation Tools course at the University of Cincinnati created these concepts and portrayed them in a Dream Catalog for their client, a local packaging materials company.
1. AirBox
- Description: The Reusable Air Box is a lightweight and protective packaging solution for fragile shipments. The outside air pocket reduces the weight of the packaging while still offering a protection and storage. The interior pocket has a foam protective tubing that forms to the variety of size of objects placed inside the tubing.
- Benefits: The Reusable Air Box allows for short term packaging of fragile shipments and storage without adding weight or need for a variety of shapes. Could design smaller types that worked as fillers for large boxes to hold things like bottles.
- Challenges: Would need to make sure they do not pop or lose air easily A mechanism to remove the product easily.
- SIT Tool: Subtraction