Smyrna Facility Goes Green, Saves Customers Money

What’s economical, ecological, great for packing Totaline® products for shipment, and edible? That might seem like a strange riddle, but at Carrier’s Replacement Components Division (RCD) facility located in Smyrna, Tennessee, the answer is simple.

“The Smyrna facility has switched their packing materials to a product called Puffy Stuff,” said Pam Duke, operations manager at the Smyrna facility. “Not only is this an environmentally friendly choice, but it’s also going to save the end consumers – HVAC/R techs – money in the long run.”

Duke said that Materials Analyst Gail Sudlow and Operations Supervisor Tony Spelta initially began researching an alternate packing material due to customer complaints. “Customers didn’t like the traditional polystyrene peanuts,” Duke said. “They disliked the static and the mess caused by the peanuts we used in the past.”

When Sudlow and Spelta were reevaluating the packing peanut usage at the Smyrna facility, Duke said that they discovered they generally purchase 55,000 cubic feet of polystyrene peanuts per year. RCD, which ships more than 700,000 parts annually, uses the peanuts when they pack Totaline replacement parts for shipment to customers.

The polystyrene peanuts are not biodegradable, and scientists estimate that it takes a million years or more for items made of the material to decompose. Polystyrene is also a petroleum-based product, and therefore is subject to price increases in oil.

Ultimately, the team decided on Puffy Stuff, a packing material created by a Tennessee company of the same name. Puffy Stuff manufactures biodegradable packing peanuts made from a non-toxic grain based protein. According to their website, www.puffystufftn.com, the peanuts are all- natural, static free, humidity-resistant, and rugged. “And since they don’t shrink, they can be reused for packing,” Duke said, adding that Puffy Stuff can also have a second life as compost or garden fertilizer.

For RCD and its customers, one of the biggest benefits of choosing Puffy Stuff was the cost. “The Smyrna facility was able to save around $3,000 annually by choosing Puffy Stuff over the traditional polystyrene packing peanuts,” Duke said. “This helps RCD cut costs at the source, which trickles down to the HVAC/R techs who shop at Totaline sales centers.”

So using Puffy Stuff helps the environment and saves money, but what about the edible part? “I took a call from a parent whose child had eaten some Puffy Stuff,” Duke said. “I was happy to be able to tell them that the peanuts were natural, biodegradable, and there was no need for alarm. In fact, we’ve all given them a try – they actually smell a little like popcorn!”

Posted September 2, 2009

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