The Problem

At a residential construction materials plant, cartons were damaged at the packaging line - two to four every hour. The damage was visible but minor enough that they got shipped out anyway. When I asked around, I found nine out of ten packers had never reported it once. The problem had been normalized and it stopped being a problem, just how the job went.

The Why & How

I was working on the line myself during line trials when I noticed damaged cartons getting caught in the machine, placed back in, loaded, and shipped. I noticed the pattern despite accurate carton placement. The cause was simple: a half-inch placement error at the machine entry was enough to damage the carton. Using the survey results, the result is an estimated 93,000 - 124,000 damaged cartons per year. At the plant GM’s own estimate of 10 - 15% transit failure, that’s $80K - $120K in at-risk revenue, annually.

I designed a guide fixture that ramps cartons into the machine consistently, eliminating the placement variance. Prototyped within four hours, tested on the floor, then had the final version machined using UMHW plastic from a CAD drawing I made. It bolts on with no disruption to the machine and EHS. $200 per line in materials, machining, and installation.

The Output

Installed across all relevant lines. Confirmed by packer feedback and stress testing. Defect eliminated within 20 hours across 2 weeks through discovery, testing, sign off, design, manufacturing, and install.

The problem cost millions, the fix cost $200 a line and installation. Nobody had gone looking.