Driving Real Results Field Report
POP Displays says its cellular manufacturing system improves waste reduction, quality and speed. Full size
POP Displays uses a new shredder to convert corrugated into packing and display material. Full size
CVS executives participate in a POP Displays training course as part of the PHD Program. Full size
Yonkers, N.Y. – While sustainability practices have long been a focus for POP Displays, it wasn’t until the company moved into its current headquarters that it was able to put as much behind these efforts as it has in place today. The company consolidated its operations from six facilities into one, and has successfully implemented programs leading to savings throughout the organization.
Once in the new facility, Joe Berzok, senior vice president of sales and marketing, says the company was able to realize its goals more easily. “With the move, we started taking more stock of some of these activities and tried to step them up a bit more,” he says.
The company now has an improved system in place for tracking, sorting, inventory and measuring the actual recycling process for resin, plastic or other materials, for example. “One of the key elements is having these metrics to really understand our business,” says Berzok. “By measuring it, it makes it easier to know exactly how effective we’re being in that regard.”
Being more precise regarding how it can recycle, which materials are most appropriate and what parts lend themselves to recycling went under increased scrutiny as well. “These are practices we’ve used,” explains Berzok, “but now we understand better from a technical standpoint what percentage of recycled materials we can use while still having the integrity of the part be exactly, from a specification standpoint, what it needs to be.”
So not only do the company’s strides in sustainability affect how it operates internally, but also the display programs it manufactures. “We look at how we apply the principles we try to live by to the products we produce for our customers,” Berzok says.
The company uses six million pounds of plastic yearly, one million pounds of which becomes waste through the molding process. The amount of plastic it recycles conserves 1.8 million gallons of oil. It also recycles 900 gallons of oil yearly from its machines.
A cooling tower which sits on the roof of its facility continually recycles the water needed to maintain the proper temperature for its equipment, 70% of which is reused (after evaporation), saving 2.5 million gallons. The facility’s use of energy-efficient lighting and other voluntary reductions also save enough energy to power more than 3,300 homes for a month.
“It’s such a hot button,” says Berzok. “Customers are looking for companies to help give them answers and do things a bit better, while not compromising quality.”
As an example, the company was challenged with creating a shelf merchandiser for paper plates within the supermarket channel. Because of the type and color of material chosen – which embodies the performance characteristics needed and showcases the plates, not the fixture – Berzok says it was able to make 95% of the component out of recycled materials captured in its facility, with the other 5% being a colorant to camouflage any imperfections that exist in the use of the recycled materials.
Much of how the company operates today is the direct result of its Green Symposiums – panels made up of internal teams as well as industry experts and raw component suppliers in resin, sheet plastic, corrugate, steel and lighting to enhance its knowledge of design, best practices, new materials/processes and insider tips on how to reduce its environmental footprint in each area. “These ultimately resulted in action items that could be applied to our business,” says Berzok.
The company invested in a new corrugated shredder following one symposium. It takes corrugated that might be scrap otherwise and creates weaved sheets that can be used for packing components, instead of using new corrugated or fillers. Berzok says it has been put to good use, and even supplies materials for displays such as a tiki hut.
Berzok says these practices are embedded into the culture of the organization. For programs the company has been doing over time, he adds, “we ask ourselves how we can change them and make it work not only for us, but for our customers so there are real savings in addition to the sustainability benefits.”
Another way the company has realized savings is through its institution of cellular manufacturing. Berzok estimates the company has reconfigured the layout of approximately 30 to 35% of its facility in an effort to reduce waste and optimize efficiency, output and quality.
“We realized that if we moved a lot of these operations and processes right to the machine, we could produce a finished part right after it comes off the machine. It becomes a much more efficient process, which is good for our customers and because it’s efficient, it becomes a much more sustainable process at the same time,” he notes.
The company’s PHD (POP Honorary Degree) program for its clients now has four courses, including “How to Get the Best Creative Design,” “Demystify the Science of Materials and Processes,” “Improve Sustainability in Displays”, which was created following the Green Symposiums and, most recently added, “Shopper and Retailer Insights.”
Berzok says the newest curriculum focuses on understanding the difference between consumer and shopper insights, determining what motivates consumers when they’re shopping, and applying those understandings to merchandising.
With years of experience working with retailers in a wide range of categories, Berzok believes the company has an understanding of retail operations, retail concerns, and insights from a retailer standpoint. “When we’re developing displays, we always try to hit that sweet spot of what’s important to the consumer, to the brand, to the shopper and to the retailer. This course teaches companies how to optimize their merchandising and make it even stronger by applying those insights — and how that leads to changing consumers’ behavior in-store.”
Berzok stresses the half-day sessions are interactive and fun, but in the end, effectively help create better programs because all sides are more on the same page. “There’s a lot of energy being paid to shopper marketing today, but less in translating those insights into an effective in-store solution,” he says. “By providing our perspective to brand marketers and retailers, I think it’s easier for them to see the pathway to executing against those objectives.”
