Solving one of the shipping and freight industrys’ biggest challenges, Compadre LLC, a leading packaging design, testing and engineering firm based in Austin, Texas, announced today that its newly patented Küboxshipping containers have won the highly coveted DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation. Compadre’s CEO Darryl Kelinske accepted the award at a ceremony held at DuPont’s Headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware.
“The DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation celebrates innovation in design and execution and puts a spotlight on the value packaging can bring in many markets,” said Yasmin Siddiqi, DuPont Packaging Awards Program Leader. “The Kübox is an excellent example.”
Now in its 27th year, the DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation is an international, independently judged competition that honors innovations in packaging design, materials, technology, processes, and service across the entire packaging value chain. Inaugurated in 1986, the DuPont Packaging Awards program is now recognized as the leading packaging awards program in the world. Each year an esteemed panel of judges awards diamond, gold or silver honors based on “excellence” in one, two or all of the three categories — Technological Advancement; Responsible Packaging; and Enhanced User Experience.
Kübox is “Easy Crating” and used to ship heavy, bulky, fragile, or valuable items. It fills a void between one-use corrugated boxes and more permanent wood crating and plastic cases. This paper-based crate fills the need when customers want something lighter, less expensive and easier to use than the traditional wooden crates or plastic cases, but a corrugated box is not enough. “In the packaging industry you rarely see something that is really innovative,” said Henry Heil, Compadre’s VP of Engineering. “Kübox is going to make a difference, everyone can use it.”
Recognizing a huge opportunity to serve the shipping industry, Compadre’s engineers designed the Kübox high-tech shipping solution specifically to address the challenges of selling crating in a retail environment. “Before the Kübox shipping containers became available, when customers showed up at a retail shipping or supplies store with fragile, heavy or expensive freight that needed to be shipped in a heavy duty shipping container, those locations would have to refer the customer to an offsite industrial wood crate builder,” Heil said.
“But now due to the Kübox’s innovative packaging design, all mailing, shipping and fulfillment centers can store a substantial number of Küboxes onsite, which can be assembled by any customer,” Heil continued. “Needless to say our Küboxes are going to help a wide variety of shipping companies streamline their operations and significantly increase their freight and shipping container revenue by providing customers with a superior shipping package.”
One unique feature of the Kübox is that they can be broken down into a 6″ shipping sandwich, which allows six 36″ boxes to be stacked in the same space usually occupied by one wooden crate. Packing and unpacking is a simple process that involves no staples, nails or screws, which means no tools are required to open or reseal containers. Using the Kübox solution, customers easily can build their own easy crating solution right in the store and ship their package.
Parcel and freight shipping is now more sustainable with the introduction of the Kübox easy crating system. Even though it is primarily made of paper, the Kübox was designed for reuse. After delivery, the Kübox can be reused in a variety of ways, most often as furniture and storage by consumers and for repetitive, out and back shipments by businesses. It has been proven to be very durable in any shipping environment frequently making six or more trips. “Kübox is designed to enable and motivate everyone who receives it to keep it and reuse it for packaging, storage, furniture or whatever they choose,” said Kelinske.
After several very successful marketing trials and winning the DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation, Compadre is now rolling out the Kübox product line internationally and looking to expand its sales to consumers and businesses.
