Sonoco Helps Home Guard Get Homeland Security Products in Stores for National Preparedness Month
- Published: September 08, 2004, By pffc-online.com
PRESS RELEASE
HARTSVILLE, SC, USA—Sonoco reports it is helping Home Guard Inc., of Cornelius, NC, USA, and its Ready Kit and Ready Kit Plus play key roles in the Department's of Homeland Security's (DHS) first National Preparedness Month, which begins Thursday, September 9, 2004.
According to Sonoco, Home Guard first contacted the packaging converter/manufacturer about three weeks ago, when it learned its original point-of-purchase (POP) display designer could not deliver assembled kits or displays in time.
"Approximately one-half of the Ready Kit and Ready Kit Plus' pieces were coming from overseas," explains Sonoco CorrFlex VP/GM Jeff Tedde. "The first two things we did were re-route the sea containers with the kits' components to our assembly facility in Rural Hall, North Carolina. [Then we began] producing corrugated POP display and shipping materials at our Winston-Salem, North Carolina, plant."
Sonco says, in Winston-Salem, from 500 to 1,000 temporary workers worked overtime and double-time, over the Labor Day Weekend, assembling and placing the kits — an orange backpack, Home Guard Barrier Sheeting biohazard waste bag, sanitary gloves, Mylar safety blanket, rain poncho, leather safety gloves, AM/FM radio, two-gallon PVC water bag, flashlight, N95 mask, a 12-hour light stick, moist towelettes, a whistle, a plastic bottle for bleach, a utility wrench for water and gas shutoff, facial tissues, a 2,400 calorie food bar, 10 water pouches, 4-D and 4-AA batteries and 1,250 milliliters of water in tear-and-pour packets — in palletized point-of-purchase displays and then custom-designed corrugated packaging.
Sonoco reports the 40,000+ units of the Ready Kit and Ready Kit Plus then went to the Rural Hall facility for shipping and distribution.
States Sonco: "The products are part of the launch of National Preparedness Month in Washington, DC, USA; they will be available at major media outlets, Coast Guard Exchanges and Discovery, Wal-Mart, BJ's, Costco, and Sam's Clubs stores beginning tomorrow (September 9, 2004)."
Adds Home Guard's president Bob Confoy, "Our Ready Kits and Ready Kits Plus had to be on Capitol Hill and in stores by September 9 to coincide with DHS Secretary Tom Ridge's speech. We couldn't have done it without Sonoco's customer-centered fulfillment, point-of-purchase displays, product-packaging knowledge and distribution know-how. The first shipment won't begin to meet what the need seems to be, so we think this is just the beginning."
Sonoco's president/CEO Harris DeLoach Jr. says the company's acquisition of Corrflex Graphics last April helped make this project a success. "CorrFlex Graphics significantly enhances Sonoco's consumer strategy of being a total solutions provider in the markets we serve. As the Home Guard projects prove, Sonoco CorrFlex adds a valuable component to Sonoco's consumer segment strategy.... It also demonstrates our ability to fulfill and distribute large quantities of product and point-of-purchase displays nationwide in a short period of time, which is critical to successful consumer product launches."
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