Company specializes in preventing product damage. (In the Pipeline).

According to a recent report issued by Washington, D.C-based Grocery Manufacturers of America (GMA), product damage cost the consumer products industry $1.5 billion in 2001, with unsaleables reaching its highest rate in eight years. The GMA report speculated that product damage was the leading cause of unsaleables. Improving shipping containers and utilizing additional packaging analysis were two of the key recommendations from GMA's report.

Denver-based Damage Prevention Co. (DPC) is addressing the problem of product damage through its dunnage products that are designed to protect products during shipment. In addition, the company will analyze a shipper's packaging and material handling practices. "Our job is to analyze and improve their packing and load handling procedures," says Mark Hoeft, national account manager for DPC. "We provide the correct load securement system for our customer's shipping environment and train the customer's staff how to use each product. This translates to lower product damage costs and higher profits for our customers."

"In-transit damage not only means losing product but also lost productivity at Quaker's destination warehouse, as well as at our trading partner's facility," says Jim Hicks, senior manager of trade damage for Quaker Oats, headquartered in Chicago. "Working with DPC is like having another set of eyes in our warehouse."

DPC officials observed Quaker's loading methods and determined where improvements could be made. They also analyzed the potential for damage and recommended the proper dunnage to protect products during shipment to manufacturing plants and distribution centers. Moreover, they trained Quaker's lift truck operators in the correct use of their dunnage products.

"Quaker's primary objective is to ensure damage-free products originating with our plants, continuing through our distribution centers to our customers' docks and ultimately onto store shelves and into the consumer's pantry," says Hicks. "DPC's expertise and familiarity with unit loading both in food and beverages, coupled with the dunnage materials supplied, provides us ample opportunity to achieve maximum success."