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E-tailer cushions itself in a perilous environment (sidebar)

Dunnage options, economics

E-tailer eToys uses air-filled plastic cushions, biodegradable “peanuts” and kraft paper as dunnage to protect its shipments to consumers. What determines which option will be used?

“The decision has been very simple so far,” explains Richard Tannenbaum, eToys’ former vice president of fulfillment strategy. Biodegradable peanuts have been used at the now-closed City of Commerce, CA, facility for baby products. At press time, it was uncertain if those products would be packed at the company’s Ontario, CA, facility or at a plant in Blairs, VA.

At Ontario, “We use the air cushions for boxes that weigh less than 10 pounds,” he notes. “Once the boxes reach that weight, we would want to use paper. As a general rule of thumb,” he adds, “if we used more than 15 air cushions to protect product in a case, we should have used paper. Our operators are trained,” to make these determinations.

To maximize flexibility at the Ontario plant, eToys uses both air cushions and kraft paper, the latter supplied by Fasttrack Systems (Horsham, PA). “The paper dunnage comes to us on large rolls. We have one machine positioned at each of our six packaging lines. A machine operator presses a pedal and a stream of the crumpled kraft paper shoots out the front of the machine,” Tannenbaum adds.

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