Space to the max and time to spare
Toyco brands themselves as the home of "serious fun". This little Kiwi business has turned into a toy giant - in fact, it's New Zealand's largest independently owned and operated toy store.
A walk through their store in St Lukes, Auckland is a kid's (and collector's) dream, with favourite brands like LEGO on display (including an impressive array of store models built by Ryan 'The Brickman' McNaught).
However, when Toyco first started they were a small company, operating directly out of their store.
Then, three years ago, things "blew up." Suddenly, they were processing so many orders a day that they were struggling to keep up.
We spoke to Operations Manager Chris Smith about how Toyco expanded and how OfficeMax helped streamline their packaging systems.
"We couldn't fit enough staff members in the back of our shop to process all the orders."
Chris Smith,
Operating Manager, Toyco
The Challenge
Toyco's initial packaging process was in the store, using recycled boxes and wrapping them in brown paper. There were a few issues with this:
- Not enough space
- There wasn't enough space for their staff to effectively process the volume of orders
- They used Polybubble to protect the orders, which took up huge amounts of storage space in their office
- Not enough time
- It wasn't always easy to know if an order was going to fit in a box - a lot of time was wasted packing and re-packing
- Time was wasted wrapping the boxes in brown paper
- The extra time spent processing orders drove up the cost of staff wages
The Solution
- Standardised Cartons
With OfficeMax standardised cartons, Toyco's staff knew exactly what the packing volume of their carton was, saving time on the packing. There was also no need to wrap the cartons in brown paper, a huge time saver!
- Paper Tape
Toyco replaced their plastic tape with gummed paper tape. It's stronger, and ensures their heavy packages don't fall open. The added benefit is that this tape can be recycled along with the cartons.
- Sealed NewAir IB Express and Rocket Void Fill Air Machine
To address the issue of space taken up by Polybubble wrap, OfficeMax, with their supplier Sealed Air, came up with a space-saving solution: the Sealed Air NewAir IB Express and the Sealed Air Rocket Void Fill Air Machine.
These protective options are stored in compact rolls and only inflated when needed for packing.
- Packing stations
With the help of Packaging Specialist Kerri Harvey and Keith Proctor from Sealed Air, Toyco developed custom packing stations for their new warehouses. These were built with storage underneath and above for boxes, as well as inserts for the new void fill machines and tape dispensers. Now, packers had everything they needed within reach, a solution that saved Toyco both time and space.
"We always refer to 'how many steps does it take' [for the packers]? Now the packers don't need to be moving all the time; they have everything they need within reach."
Chris Smith,
Operating Manager, Toyco
"Kerri has always been really easy to deal with. Whenever we need a problem solved between her and Keith from Sealed Air, we always get a great solution. Nothing but positives!"
Chris Smith,
Operating Manager, Toyco
The Results
Toyco has been able to drastically increase the number of orders their staff can process each day.
From an average of 90-100 orders a day to at least 150 per person per day, there have been a huge saving in wages and an increase in happy customers.
Without these solutions, Chris says Toyco would have had to hold back its growth as it simply would not have been able to keep up with demand.
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