Packing a Custom Made Doll House

We've all seen a dollhouse before, but the dollhouses out of FAO Schwartz in NY is a whole different story.  They are incredibly detailed and in some cases, miniature replicas of the customer's home, right down to the same room decorations and and furniture.

When packing, foam blocks are used to block and cushion the dollhouse from the crate without the use of wrappings.  The potential problem with wrappings is that it would result in pressure around the corners of the dollhouse, potentially causing small components to break off.  The other consideration is that the customer needs to be able to easily remove the dollhouse from the crate without causing any damage.

Recently featured in a newspaper article

We were recently interviewed for an article for the Courier News and Home News Tribune that printed today.  Click the link below to check it out.

http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20100319/BUSINESS/100318038/1022

Crating Wildlife Models

This model of a Blue Footed Boobie Bird is part of a traveling exhibit for the American Museum of Natural History.  As with many wildlife models, we need to contend with many delicate parts such as the feathers, feet, tails, etc..  We also must consider how the piece will be loaded and unloaded over the span of the exhibit. Overly complicated packing requirements will increase the chance of damages while packing. 

For this shipment, a platform was used to mount the model.  The platform allows the piece to be safely slid out of the crate and then unbolted.  We then utilize foams to cushion and isolate the platform from the outer crate to minimize the shock.

Before & After - Crane Axles

We recently received a call to pick up and repair a couple of crates that were damaged in shipment. These crates contained 2000 pound crane axles and were bound for Asia but sustained damage en route to it's flight out of NY from the manufacturer.

As seen in the first photo, the crate base cracked in half and separated from the walls. The original crates (not ours) were not adequate for this weight and required completely new crates of a different design. The first challenge was to safely offload the damaged crates from the truck. Since the crate was in pieces, it prevented us to lift the crate as we normally would. Doing so would have caused the axle to "roll" out of whatever was left of the crate and sustain damage. Using various tools, straps and forklifts, we were able to safely remove the crates from the truck.

We then proceeded to build two new crates with more substantial supports and bracing suitable for items of this weight. The axles were loaded, blocked and banded in then returned to the airport for immediate shipment out.