Sometimes in our day to day lives we forget about the little things and how important they are. Recently, we were reminded of this while working with a customer on regarding edge protectors. These are the little paper ones that are used under the strapping to protect the edges of the wood so there is no indentation from the strap.

While working together to maximize efficiency, as well as reduce costs in the shipping department, we analyzed each product currently being used. One of them was this little paper edge protector. At first we didn’t give it much thought, but as we looked at it we asked ourselves, is there was anything possible that could be changed with this product and still give the protection needed, and reduce costs. The product currently being used was a 2”x2”x.160x3”. We decided to try one a little narrower and see if it would work. We tried a 2”x2”x.160x2.5”. It offered the same protection as their original edge protector but was ½” narrower. It worked fine.

The bottom line: Edge protectors are inexpensive, just a few cents. In this case the customer uses around 60,000 of them a month. The difference in cost between the 2 ½” and the 3” is around $4.60 per thousand. That equates to a savings of $276.00 per month or $3,312.00 per year. Just a few cents adds up to a lot of dollars in time.