Simple optimizations save 47.5% on medical company’s crate costs
1 December 2023
The customer, a medical device company in home dialysis machines desperately needed to find cost savings on a transport crate for their machines.
Solution
The crates are designed to be reusable, but they’re rather expensive. And since devices are often shipped directly to the end customer (patient), the crates are regularly not returned — representing a substantial loss for the company. The crates can also be difficult for a patient to handle at home.
The company hoped we could redesign the transport crate to reduce its cost while also making it lighter, and easy to use and recycle for the patient.
Our designers re-engineered the crate using hybrid materials for a shock/vibration protective package with a corrugated cardboard top while retaining the plywood ramp for easy loading and unloading.
Outcome
The new corrugated design costs only $211 per unit (compared to the $402 that the original design cost), and it’s much less unwieldy for end-users.