2010 – 2012: Bulk Liquid Storage Cradle
Bulk Liquid Storage System
Executive on Demand Position:
President, Chief Operating Officer, Vice President Sales and Marketing, Vice President Research and Development
Project Outline:
A high level project activity as the activity is part of a much larger project. The master project includes the development of an alternative dispensing system to replace commercially produced pour, spray and aerosol products in a professional service environment.. The success of the the program is interdependent on the successful development and execution of the two separate projects.
Project Outcome:
Having spent a significant amount of time working with liquid product fillers I recognized that an opportunity existed in distributing liquid products in a bulk format. To be successful the program must reduce the space required to store product (i.e. packaged bottled and aerosol products), reduce the per unit cost, be easy to use and execute and provide a significantly improved return on investment (ROI).
Market research included ongoing discussions and feedback with a team of packaged product manufacturers, distributors, retailers and end users. During the development phase several designs of a 5 gallon/20 liter pail cradle was created and shown to the team. The group identified that two factors needed to be considered in the development of a universal storage system for pails; there were several pail styles to consider (straight wall, tapered wall, open head, closed head) and the type of material used to manufacture the container (metal and plastic). To be successful, the cradle must be able to store all of these options. Once all of the issues were determine to have been addressed, the final development of a total liquid bulk system was developed.
The program expanded from the 5 gallon/20 liter cradle to a fully stack-able and horizontally interlocking wall of cradles. In addition, the program included a cradle for storing smaller bulk liquid products packaged in 1 gallon/4 liter sizes. This was done to ensure that the mandate to provide an optimum ROI could be maintained as some products would not achieve the level expected based on volume or cost of the product.
Additional research indicated that in industrial applications the storage of liquid products (especially chemicals) there is an EPA spill regulation to be considered. The regulation requirement was researched and as a result a drip collection tray was added to the final design concept that exceeded the regulation.
Lastly, a liquid storage system would not be complete without providing storage for the re-usable dispensers and service type equipment. This was resolved by adding to the program side holsters and a top shelf that interlocks with the cradles, thus providing added stability as an added benefit.
The program has been successfully launched using only the 5 gallon/20 liter cradle. The next phase will make the drip tray available with the availability of the 1 gallon/4 liter cradle, top shelf and side holsters within the next year.
Specifications for the 20L Pail cradle are available by clicking on the following link “20L Pail Cradle Specs”