THE CUBE® transport packaging system from Smart Packaging Systems (SPS) has been recognized by DuPont for Excellence in Innovation and Sustainability for
its capacity to provide an environmentally preferable and retail-ready option to shrink-wrapped pallets and wooden crates for retail and industrial applications, respectively.

THE CUBE consists of an open-architecture frame made from a special lamination of recycled and virgin fibers and humidity-resistant glue in a standard pallet dimension of 40 x 48 in. and an adjustable height from 41 to 85 in. (Custom sizes are also available.) The paperboard frame is connected at the corners by plastic components available in a range of plastics, including polypropylene and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), depending upon the application. Straps made from recycled PET run diagonally across each open panel. THE CUBE can be constructed with or without a pallet underneath.

According to Luis Felipe Rego, CEO, founder, and chairman of SPS, THE CUBE was developed in response to Walmart’s 2004 challenge to suppliers to design packaging capable of improving product handling throughout the logistics supply chain while reducing costs, cutting excessive secondary and tertiary packaging, saving time and labor, increasing profits per square foot of sales space, reducing product damage, and exhibiting sustainability in terms of material, energy, sourcing, etc. The solution also needed to pass ISTA® 6-SAMSCLUB protocol simulation testing.

Representing a “Ready to Ship, Ready to Display, and Ready to Sell” solution, THE CUBE meets all these requirements, says Rego. “THE CUBE is the only packaging solution designed to go from product pack-out
at the end of a manufacturer’s production line, into distribution, be it national or international, in any mode of transportation, straight to the retailer sales floor, eliminating layers of costs,” he notes.

Among the retail examples illustrated by SPS in its DuPont competition entry form were brands that included Welch’s, Gatorade, Listerine, VOSS, and Arm & Hammer. As products are packed directly onto THE CUBE without corrugated cases, at retail the structure becomes a sturdy, self-selling, open-window merchandising display—shoppable on four sides—that requires no labor to unpack at point of sale. According to SPS, THE CUBE has proven to increase retail sales by at least 30%. In the entry form, Ari Mandelbaum, marketing brand manager for Colgate-Palmolive Mexico, is quoted as saying that his company “doubled its historic toothpaste sales volume on a new product launch by using THE CUBE system.”

Eliminating corrugated cartons, as well as the pallet, in some cases, is also estimated to yield a cost savings to brand manufacturers from 20% to 40%. SPS adds that in transit, THE CUBE can be stacked up to four-high, which allows the possible doubling of the number of pallets on a truck from 24 to 48, “slashing transportation costs.”

Industrial examples cited by SPS in its entry form ranged from applications as diverse as Yamaha motorcycles, metal filing cabinets, and potted plants. In industrial applications, THE CUBE Open Architecture Crating System replaces wooden crates, which are labor- and cost-intensive to construct. The open structure also allows product visibility in-transit, resulting in more careful handling.

Says SPS, “THE CUBE is helping manufacturers reduce considerably the costs in terms of product damage and over-packaging their products, such as solar panels or wind turbines, even air conditioners, by 20 percent, making these new technologies more accessible to more people.”

At end of life, THE CUBE can be reused, composted, or incinerated, extending its sustainability advantages.