Poolrite manufactures Australian-made pool products and eco-friendly solutions for pool owners. They ship products Australia-wide and internationally. Unfortunately, they had repeated issues with products being damaged in transit. Given the cost of these products and freight for heavy packages, this was a big problem.

Problem

Poolrite found that many of their pool pumps would become damaged in transit. This resulted in several problems, including frustrated customers dealing with returns and project delays, loss of brand trust, increased costs, and extra stress on all parties.

Poolrite was referred to us by our honeycomb cardboard supplier LiteCorp. After a consultation, we quickly identified problem areas with Poolrite’s existing packaging – the primary one being that the pumps were packaged in a tight-fitting box without any protective insulation.

Solution

A custom honeycomb cardboard packaging solution to house the pool pump and accommodate its external parts, like the intake and output spouts, was the answer! After a few rounds of testing and refining the design, we were left with, what we call, The Caddy.

Outcome

The Caddy as a design is simple. However, it solved many more issues than the initial one that brought Poolrite to us!

Protection

The Caddy is designed specifically for these pool pumps, meaning each part of the packaging fits perfectly around the product. That means no jostling during bumpy transit, which keeps all the delicate parts safe, and removes the need for void fill materials. The durability of honeycomb cardboard also prevents bumps, nicks, and cracks caused by impacts and drops during transport.

Handling

The larger pool pumps weigh 25kg. The handles we incorporated into our design made it much easier for everyone, from Poolrite’s warehouse staff to the delivery driver to the end user, to handle the package. Given that previous packaging for the pumps had no handles, this was a great upgrade.

Beyond handling, our design made packaging up the pumps much easier. Instead of awkwardly lowering the product into a tight-fitting box, our packaging is constructed around the pump.

End Consumer Unpacking

One issue identified during our initial design process was how difficult it was to remove the product from the packaging. It was a very snug fit. At Moda, we like to cater for the entire packaging lifecycle – including how the end consumer receives and unpacks the product.

During testing, we found that our initial design created suction as the pump was lifted free of the box, making it tiresome and difficult to unpack. However, this was easily overcome by including holes in the Caddy’s base, allowing air to move through freely and preventing suction.

 

The Caddy has successfully been deployed by Poolrite and is now in use for pool pumps in two sizes. We’re now working on another solution for their valves!