Kit packaging mild rant

[Fredvon4]

I have bought several kits in the last three years and two had damaged parts due to the pluck and "spew/throw" in box kit packing method

Last week a Brodak ME-109 kit and today a Sig Skyray 35
I always open a new kit to inspect
reason...a few years back got a thing mail order and did not open for a year only to find damage..no help.. 30 60 90 days is typical need to make claim

So last week the Brodak ME-109 came--- typical thrown in packing and a few things I ordered were added to the kit box... nice fuselage was beat to death and broken

Brodak is good about fixing these issues and that is not the point... If it (the kit wood and bits) had been packed logically by size in the first place no damage could have happened no matter how rough the shipping (short of crushing the carton)

Just now opened a new Sig SkyRay 35 to find even worse spew loading of the ply/balsa/hardware...took me two minuets to unpack, inspect (notice the dinged soft fuselage sides from maple motor mounts beating it hard) and place it all back in logically...and they could reduce the carton size by about half the volume...I think saving shipping costs two ways...to them and to me

I realize time is money and these things are made, boxed, and shipped dozens or hundreds at a time...but hey what the hell...do it right the first time and I bet a bit of green could be saved...at least customer frustration or anger reduced

Rant off
I am sending my comments to both managment

[Tim Wescott]

Or shove some bubble-pack in there.

What a pain!

I bet that if they study hard and figure out how to pack things more compactly they get complaints from people that unpack the kit and then can't get it to fit back in the box.

[Russell Shaffer]

I think Tim is right on this.  Some cushioning filler stuff to protect the contents.  If the kit pieces exactly fit the box and nothing rattled, there would have to be a special, specific box for each different kit.  Now that it is mentioned, though, I have never, ever had a kit that didn't rattle from all of the odd loose pieces in the box.

[Randy Cuberly]

The kit maker needs to know this. However, for a perfectly packed kit, try a Walter Umland kit. Amazing how every thing is packed just so and air pockets are filled with foam peanuts. Never a dented part. Unless of course my least favorite people, UPS, get hold of it, but I believe Walter uses the USPS and I've have had NO problems with them. FWIW

I agree with the comments about Walter's kits and have come to expect nothing but superb quality from everything connected with Him.

I would also mention Eric Rule when it comes to packaging kits.  Eric always manages somehow to package kits with no extra space what so ever in the box.  Superb packaging!  I have no idea how he manages it!  I also have never been able to get everything back in the box like he does if I take it out to examine the kit.  I just accept now that the packaging is perfect and someone at RSM is smarter than me when it comes to putting stuff in a box!    

I really would like to know how He manages it!

Randy Cuberly

[Garf]

I have never yet found a kit that I could manage to repack if I were to remove the contents for inspection. Most of my kits were earlier non Brodak kits.

[Steve Fitton]

That surprises me a bit.  All the Brodak kits I have had were all very well packed.  Never had any damage, the only problem was that they would never ever fit back in the box if I unpacked it!

[john e. holliday]

I've had kits from RSM Dist.(Eric),  SIG, Top Flite, Goldberg, Brodaks and Walter U.   No complaints as far as packaging.   Even the last kit I got From Mike via RSM was well packed.  It is the only one that had broken pieces, sheet and parts sheet.  As I related to Mike CA does a great repair job as it looked some one tried to bend the package over their knee.  Just hope they didn't hurt themselves too bad.

[Russ Main]

This is a typical Walter kit, always packed with the peanuts and I haven't ever had a broken part. I believe the statement of using USPS only is correct.
Russ

[pat king]

As a kit manufacturer shipping kits is a problem. I now ship all kits with two 3 1/4" X 4" stickers that say "DO NOT BEND OR CRUSH". The last small kit I shipped was in a Priority Mail Triangular mailer. The Box was crushed and split open. I had one customer who had the leading edge broken in the original shipment. The replacement was also broken, again shipped in a triangular mailer. The third one arrived in one piece, it was shipped in a heavy wall (1/4") cardboard  tube. As far as I know all kit manufacturers have problems with kit boxes being bent and crushed.
As kit makers we need to do all we can to pack our kits to prevent part movement during shipping. There is not much we can do with what sometimes appears to be deliberate destruction of the packages.

Pat

[M Spencer]

Should shipem with a Video Camera in em , to identify the culprits !

Worndering if they just throw them in mail sacks , and throw in ( the truck ) the mail sacks .

Would explain the odd bent box , But youd think theyed pack / stack stuff sensably .
' Load at Top , or ' Do Not put at bottom of load ' stickers needed ?

Though theres some melicious vindicative half wits about .
Those plastic real estate signs might make good cartons .

[Randy Cuberly]

One thing to remember is that "Gorillas" can't read, and machines have very limited reading capabilities.  Have you ever watched the Gorillas that load planes do their job.  I've seen suitcases thrown 10 feet or more onto a conveyer...

Seriously though, most package handling damage is done by machines that process and route the packages.  Rapid conveyer systems that route packages according to size and destination are a wonder to watch...except when they go wrong and stack packages in a big pile or dump them onto the floor from 50 feet up!

I've seen the triangular mailing tubes wedged into a funnel that was way too short to accept the things "sideways".  They don't "fold" neatly!

Randy Cuberly

[Fredvon4]

Guys
My rant was about the "factory" packing of mass (or perhaps low volume) kits

I too have got superb wood, packing, and low shipping costs from all the usual suspects, Pat J, Tom M, Walt U, Bob H, Pat K, Captain Black hawk....all very well sorted and packed LOGICALLY...no doubt by a human who has bought and built kits before

NONE of them can totally prevent shipping damage by crush, bend, or stomp in transit and I never would hold them to blame for the postal abuse we have all seen

In my Rant I should have noted that each packaged arrived absolutely pristine condition as if I had picked it up at the factory

SigMfg, Horizon Hobby, Brodak all buy from other sources and they do not pack the kit boxes...they receive a boat load and re-sell

But they suffer the angst of a customer like me who expected the $100+ kit to arrive at least packed to prevent unnecessary damage

I wish I had the fore thought to take pictures of what I described.

A 28" x 5" x 1/2" light Balsa laser cut fuselage should NOT have to re-glued back together and deep dings filled...There absolutely is a way to pack flat wood pieces so that damage can NOT happen

[Perry Rose]

Brodak kits are packed by them. I'm pretty Sig kits are packed by Sig. Or they used to be before Hazel sold the company.

[Fredvon4]

If true than perhaps my notes to each of them may result in more time and care to the initial packing

Seems logical to me for them to look into and retrain some packers....we see on these forums there are frequent suggestions to us to just call and Brodak or Sig will set it right...

I have, and they always do....but this has to cut into profit margin and certainly is a PITA for the customer as well as the nice folks who answer the phone, and also the poor employee who has to search around for a replacement part, pack, and ship it free of charge

All I am ranting about is in my opinion this is mostly avoidable

[Target]

Anyone remember the American Tourister commercial, the one with the gorilla??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C-e96m4730#action=share

R,
Chris

[john e. holliday]

Back in the day when SIG used to have their annual contest, they would have factory tours.  It was amazing the packing area and all the other area of the plane.