Case Study: Making Waves for Lightning Kayaks

Lightning Kayaks was in a boatload of trouble. Their premium, 95-pound kayaks needed a safe way to travel from the manufacturer to their stores efficiently and damage-free. At first, they planned on using corrugated cardboard boxes for packaging, but they realized the boxes were getting crushed with merely two stacks. 

The search for a better solution brought them to Foam Industries. We were tasked with finding a packaging solution that would be durable, but also budget-conscious. 

Curious to learn how Foam Industries helped make waves by finding a packaging solution that used less material and kept the Lightning Kayaks safe during transit? Our friends at Pregis created a case study exploring how we used Pregis PolyPlank® to troubleshoot a solution for Lightning Kayaks:

Overview

“Jack, come over here. I need your help.”

That phone conversation started a new design project for Jack Nelson, VP of sales and marketing at Foam Industries, a Pregis fabricator partner. The family-owned and operated company works hard to provide innovative packaging solutions for a variety of customers and works equally hard to cultivate strong relationships with its clients.

Lightning Kayaks is a unique customer for Foam Industries, as the fabricator supplies a key component built into the kayak. Lightning Kayaks is known for manufacturing high-end peddle-driven kayaks with a wide, stable design that allows end users to sit high or stand to fish. 

Using 3D CAD designs, Foam Industries created a customized foam element that is sealed within the kayak and helps provide essential structure to the craft.

For this particular application, using foam is advantageous because if the kayak is damaged, a paper-based product would quickly saturate and fail.

But that’s not the reason Foam Industries was summoned over to Lightning Kayaks. The company planned to ship the kayaks in corrugated cartons, but when Nelson arrived at the plant, he discovered crushed boxes, even those stacked two high.

Challenge

The go-to-market plan for Lightning Kayaks is to individually ship kayaks to sporting goods stores. Once at the store, the associates unbox the kayaks and accessories and place the products either on display or in the back room. Compared to other e-commerce clients, the carton isn’t intended for the end user, so there is no need to protect the box.

Premium kayaks are heavy, and with all the gear, can weigh up to 95 lbs. Without the foam solutions, boxes were squashed when stacking two high. In the field, there could be times when the boxes are stacked four high. What would happen to the condition of the product once the shipper took over? It’s understandable why Foam Industries was called to help.

Solution

Pregis PolyPlank® polyethylene foam plank was the ideal shipping solution due to its structural integrity, dimensional stability, and compressive strength. Using 3D CAD drawings for each kayak model, the Foam Industries team customized foam pieces that followed the contours of the kayak, so it could safely nestle within the foam without abrasion.

This solution produced client wins on two different fronts.

The first win is efficiency. Foam Industries customized the protective foam layer to utilize only the exact amount of material needed, thereby optimizing the overall efficiency of the design. The foam didn’t cover the kayak from stem to stern, and instead small foam blocks were positioned strategically to protect key stress points.

The design also won points with the customer for budget efficiency. Following several prototypes, the final foam design fit a standard-sized teletray box, which allowed Lightning Kayaks to take advantage of volume discounts when ordering shipping cartons.

The second win is sustainability. Pregis PolyPlank foam offers significant sustainability benefits because it can be precisely engineered to meet design requirements. Thanks to the robust cushioning properties inherent to PE foam, utilizing the minimum amount of material can still achieve maximum product protection, safeguarding delicate and high-value goods from impact. 

“There would be zero damage to the kayak if we built it with 100% foam, but we want to use just the right amount of foam to properly do the job,” explains Nelson.

In the prototype run, a small number of kayaks were built with a deck less than specified. Instead of scrapping all items to the landfill, Foam Industries designed a specially modified support to enhance the rigidity of the structure which allowed quality testing to take place. This is yet another example where foam can be used with purpose, optimizing waste reduction efforts. Testing with the custom-designed support found no change in capacity, and the products passed.

Another component that doesn’t get scrapped and sent to the landfill is the actual foam scraps from the design and manufacturing process. Foam Industries is part of the Pregis Foam Densifier Program, which contributes to the circular economy by substantially increasing the circularity of foam plank.

Related Content: Sustainability and Packaging Foam

In this program, Foam Industries collects foam scrap and loads batches into the densifier, which transforms loose scrap into logs. These logs are easy to store, load onto a truck and transport to a recycler. More polyethylene goes to the recycler on each truck as logs than loose foam scrap by a ratio of 20:1. Not only is the densified scrap more attractive to area recyclers, it is far more efficient to transport, meaning less trucks on the road and fewer carbon emissions.

In conclusion, Pregis PolyPlank foam proves itself to be a highly versatile product that allows fabricators like Foam Industries to customize efficient protective solutions for their customers. 

“Pregis offers a consistent and predictable product,” says Nelson. “Having confidence in a supplier’s product makes it easier for us.”

Kayak More, Worry Less

Foam Industries successfully solved Lightning Kayak’s shipping problem. Using just enough foam to provide cushioning during transit without wasting excess materials or money, our solution kept the Lightning Kayaks undamaged from point A to point B.

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Find Your Best Option with a Packaging Expert

As a leader in the packaging industry, Foam Industries has set the bar with an unwavering commitment to quality, exceptional client service, and constant innovation. Through our extensive inventory of endlessly customizable products, we ensure you find exactly what you’re looking for.

Contact a Packaging Expert

Foam Industries is a custom protective packaging company specializing in foam – with additional wood and plastic fabrication services. Our custom foam fabrication services are ideal for any type of packaging, display, or support service needed – from design to finished product.

Explore more of this project on Pregis.com: Solving Customer Challenges with Foam Solutions