Site Visit: Sydcor

by RLA Contributor

Reverse Logistics Magazine, Jan/Feb 2008

Recently, Jeremy Vick, RLA VP of Worldwide Business Development, visited Sydcor's new Austin headquarters.

Located on the north side of the city, the corporate office handles packaging solutions, supply chain and fulfillment management and after-market services projects. Greeted by CEO, Darryl Kelinske, Jeremy learned that Sydcor manages all of the needs a company may have to service a product once it comes off the production line. Sydcor's operations are strategically divided between an large hub in Fairfield, Ohio and operational facilities in Austin, Nashville and High Point, North Carolina.

Sydcor handled the largest consumer electronics safety recall. Within twenty-one days of being tapped, Sydcor designed a plan, built infrastructure, created a reporting and tracking system and launched the recall. Sydcor implemented four synchronized initiatives:

• Built a 16-language Web site--100 million hits in the first several days
• Established an Austin call center--300,000 calls on opening week
• Ramped-up the Ohio facility--capacity to ship 40,000 batteries daily
• Designed a real-time reporting structure--tracked each shipped and received battery

The next room is dedicated to New Product Introduction Services, which allows clients the flexibility to postpone product launches. Here, modified printers and software handle shifts in daily volume caused by unforeseen manufacturing demands.

Jeremy then visited the Service Parts Management area where a team manages warranty parts programs for its customers' enterprise clients--services include order management, CRM, fulfillment, returns management and reporting.

The best is always last. In recent years, there has been a push to use recycled materials; the lab has everything needed to design and test prototypes by simulating real-world conditions. The ISTA lab can test temperature, compression, vibration and fall durability. Available for contract testing, the lab works with partner-suppliers to create thermal forming, molded pulp and foam packaging.

Sydcor's ISTA Lab has a complete compliment of testing machines:

• Lansmont PDT-56 Shock Tester simulates the damage from multiple drops
• Lansmont Vibration System creates vibration frequencies common in shipping
• L.A.B. Validator Compression System verifies corrugated stacking strength
• Thermotron SM-35C Atmosphere Conditioning Chamber heats to 180ºC or cools to -70ºC packages for real-world testing
• Data Technology M3000 creates prototype packaging and labels from CAD drawings
• Computer packaging software includes CAD Score! 6, CAPE Systems and AutoCAD
• Prototype assembly line is the last step in a new pack-out process or new packaging designs