Customer satisfaction soars… stock damage plummets

How Palletcaps are helping WD-40 Company keep everyone happy.

When WD-40 Company added the 1001 carpet care range to its portfolio, it quickly turned to an award-winning invention called Palletcap to help counter rising levels of stock damage during storage and transit.

The new trigger spray products, distributed in the main through busy pallet networks, were too fragile to withstand being top-stacked – and the company’s system of putting warning labels on the 1001 pallets was proving ineffective.  So late last year, WD-40 leapt at the chance to trial the bright yellow cones which attach to the top of vulnerable freight instead.

A few months on, and Palletcap has reduced stock damage by a staggering 90 per cent.  It has also helped WD-40 meet the simple – yet crucial – objective that runs through its entire business:  to ensure everything only gets done once.

“Because we are no longer double-handling,’ explains Customer Service and Logistics Manager Mark Gravestock, ‘we save time and money.  Transport and admin costs are down and we’re no longer shipping product backwards and forwards.”

There are other benefits too, not least of which is the boost to morale.  “The warehouse people are delighted,” says Mr Gravestock.  “Palletcaps are easy to assemble and place and have really helped staff streamline their workload because stock is no longer coming back.”

Most important of all, the increased efficiency means customer satisfaction is at an all-time high.  A great end in itself, this is also a key consideration for any consumer products group wanting to pursue growth and build its brand, which is precisely what WD-40 has set out to do.

“We are moving heavily into the retail sector with our 1001 product range,” says Mark Gravestock, “and we are very focused on brand building.  Palletcap is helping us all the way down the line.”

“We have always maintained that the advantages of introducing Palletcap go way beyond reduction – and even eradication – of damaged stock,” adds Hayley Shirley, inventor of Palletcap and Managing Director of the Staffordshire-based company.  “Satisfied customers are the single most vital component of a successful business and we are delighted to have supported WD-40 Company in this way.”