Most packaging was designed for the product. Nobody designed it for the flow — or for the rack. That mismatch costs you at every touch. The conveyor, the pick station, the return loop, and every inch of racking space that generic packaging doesn’t fully use. Kiva Container builds custom returnable and reusable packaging for supply chain and distribution operations. Corrugated plastic totes, thermoformed trays, divider systems, and integrated solutions — all engineered around your process and your storage footprint. Design, tooling, and production are all in-house, so we move from concept to production faster than a larger shop ever could. ISO 9001:2015 certified. Women-owned. Built in Anaheim since 1986. Your flow, your packaging.
Before the packer. Before the Tyvek lid. Before sterilization. The tray has to be right. Every instrument needs a precise home before anything else in the kit can work. A layout that’s off by a few millimeters means instruments shift, kits fail inspection, and production stops. At Kiva Container we thermoform custom surgical kit trays engineered to your exact instrument layout — general surgical kits, spine and back surgery sets, orthopedic trials. Every pocket, every depth, every hold designed specifically for your kit. In-house tooling and design in Anaheim. ISO 9001:2015 certified. From concept to production tray without leaving one facility. Your instruments, your layout, your tray.
When you’re building packaging for aerospace, protecting the part is only the beginning. Traceability, documentation, process control — it all has to hold up to your program requirements. Kiva Container is AS9100D and ISO 9001:2015 certified, building custom thermoformed trays, corrugated plastic containers, ESD-safe avionics packaging, and Class A laminated solutions in Anaheim, CA — all in-house from design through production. Your program, your packaging.
Most packaging is designed first. Then you figure out how to make your line fit around it.
We do it the other way.
At Kiva Container we build custom corrugated plastic totes, trays, and thermoformed dunnage around your automation — your conveyor dimensions, your robot’s reach, your AS/RS slot specs, your cycle counts.
Design, tooling, and production all in-house in Anaheim. No middlemen, no off-the-shelf compromises.
Your system, your packaging.
kivacontainer.com | 714-630-3850
The three R’s… We all know them… REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE
This little jingle got its start sometime in the raging 70’s (wasn’t born then so I’m not speaking from experience). Many credit U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson from Wisconsin for kickstarting this environmental movement that eventually birthed the EPA and subsequently the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976.
As the hangover from the 70’s wore off, America has been increasingly more conscious about what it’s using and how much it’s using. So much so, that those of us lucky enough to find ourselves in the People’s Republic of California have been relegated to paper straws that disintegrate as you use them! Given that there’s still an estimated 8 million metric tons of plastic thrown into the ocean on any given year, I think a normal person would agree that the three R’s are important to practice.But…
What if there’s an even better way…
Let me introduce the SIX R’s… REDUCE, REUSE, REUSE, REUSE, REUSE, RECYCLE.
My Grandpa used to tell me, ‘if three is good, six is better…’
Now, I know what you’re thinking… I’m mocking our local turtles for having straw issues… BUT, that’s not the case! At Kiva Container we have worked hard for the last 30+ years to create durable, functional, bespoke plastic packaging that absolutely can be and should be reused not once, not twice, but over and over again! Heck, we’ve got customers that are using the same product handling bins from nearly 20 years ago, you want to talk about multiple R’s! Much to the detriment of our bottom line, they’re not looking at replacing them anytime soon!
There are many ways to be conscious about your footprint on the earth, some people point to electric cars, some people point to metal or glass containers, some even point to wind and solar. We think one huge way is to buy quality products and use, reuse, reuse and reuse them. Don’t buy a new cheap trendy briefcase every two to three years, buy a quality, timeless one once, and be done. Same thing with shoes, wallets, cars, and jeans. Same can be said for material handling totes, bins, and packaging. And for that which you can’t reuse, make it out of something easy to recycle like PET, HDPE or PP. Or even better, make it out of RPET which has already been recycled at least once!! That way you’re still in the reuse stage!
Give us a call and let us help you design packaging that is reusable, returnable and ultimately sustainable. Because in the end with that kind of goal, we all win!
These pictures are probably familiar, (usually seen while praying that your luggage arrived safely from wherever you were coming from). In this case, I was praying that my luggage and golf clubs arrived safely in Detroit. We were going to Southern Michigan for a couple days, getting some much-needed R&R and low and behold, luggage handling tubs!
But not just any tubs, OUR tubs! I had to take a picture (actually a couple), and then I remembered, since we offer a warranty, we form the MFG date into the tub. I had to get a look at when these were made… August of 2008. Not lying, check the pictures. That means these puppies have been in circulation for over a decade. Getting thrown around, hammered in the underground conveyer systems, dropped, smashed, stepped on, forgotten in the cold (it’s Detroit), forgotten in the heat (it’s Detroit), forgotten in the humidity (it’s Detroit) and just plain forgotten (it’s Detroit) and they’re still going strong!
This is an absolute testament to what we strive for day-in and day-out. Durable, reusable, returnable, custom packaging (or material handling) products that solve problems and more than pay for themselves.
Just a little cost analysis for you. When these were first implemented, John Wayne Airport in Southern California found that using the totes to handle bags instead of placing the bags directly on the conveyers decreased overall handling and realignment needs by over 80%, while simultaneously reducing the time it took to get bags to the flight line by nearly 20 minutes with the new screening required by TSA. These totes today cost anywhere from $20-$35 each, depending on quantity, color, and size. If the average tote lasts for 10 years, that’s around $3 +/- a year, at two cycles a day (John Wayne said they averaged over 4). That works out to be less than $.005 / trip. No typo there, less than a penny a day. Given the cost of time and people, I can comfortably say these totes created YUGE cost savings. YUGE is a common word used in finance and accounting.
Reliable, reusable, returnable plastic packaging for the right project pays dividends for life! Give us a call and see how we can help you save money by switching to custom plastic packaging and material handling totes!
Take the opportunity to invest in your business by reducing costs over the life of your products with reusable/returnable plastic packaging.
Custom packaging and dunnage reduce product damage in three main ways:
Maximizes safe storage and shipping space in warehouses, decreasing overall handling.
Helps reduce inventory shrinkage, improves cleanliness, reduces losses from product handling and shipping damage.
Custom formed dunnage can take up to 70% less space in your warehouse compared to typical foam dunnage while exceeding product protection in shipping and handling.
Returnable plastic packaging increases profit by reducing the per/trip cost of packaging for those systems that can return the packaging back to the original source.
If the final stop for your product packaging is a landfill, you are losing money. Kiva designs plastic packaging specific to your product. We can utilize stock totes with custom dunnage or custom totes and dunnage. Many times, the best options is a combination of totes and formed parts, capitalizing on the benefits of multiple substrates, Kiva is the only manufacturer that handles multiple substrates – IN HOUSE!
Do your parts and supplies have all the right packages? Are your storage and shipping containers part of your Lean supply chain and ERP solutions?
Or, are you experiencing errors and reduced efficiency because you’re not using optimal storage solutions? Could new containers for shipping, storage, and parts transfer solve some of these problems? Kiva Container understands your challenges and needs. We’ve designed solutions for nearly every phase of the aerospace supply chain from manufacturing to distribution for over 25 years.
We’ll be glad to work with you to create reusable plastic solutions for your ever-evolving and changing needs, including:
Work in process storage
Inbound part containers
Outbound part containers
Device storage
Finished product storage
Delivery packaging
We hope we’re contacting you “just in time” to meet your needs for storage solutions and packaging that will significantly speed up and smooth out your supply chain.
If you’ve ever lost parts because of poor packaging — and if you’ve been thinking of ways to improve your efficiency and organization — Kiva Container has the experience you need. We can also partner with you as you plan and provide container and packaging solutions for upcoming and emerging projects and design changes.
Kiva Container has the expertise and skill to meet your needs for packaging and containers, from the smallest parts and sensitive electronics and display screens to large, bulky item packaging.
Contact us today to discuss your recycled plastic supply chain packaging and storage needs.
What does your business need to make and test? Kiva Container is a leader in Design-2-Part services. You can take your drawings and concept sketches to prototypes and samples that you can evaluate, measure, touch, and hold.
Kiva Container offers the following services for Design-2-Part that can support your parts in the development process:
Dynamic CNC milling
Urethane casting
CNC routing and finishing
Make samples as you need them or do first article production parts. Use Kiva Container’s resources and expertise to identify and mitigate any potential issues in production or performance and design.
Whether you’re developing and testing parts in the aerospace industry, working with prototyping for aerospace/defense, or are part of the automotive industry, Kiva Container’s services and experience will support your design, protype, and sample program.
Test your materials and validate your designs in an efficient, flexible, and affordable way. Kiva Container has served many manufacturers in the design, prototype, and testing process in aerospace, defense, and automotive industries. Whether you are still in the concept phase or are farther along in your development process, Kiva Container can help you to take your vision into production and reality.
From large bulk storage to handheld totes, reusable plastic packaging and storing is a great choice for your automotive business, parts business, or industrial plant.
What are some of the benefits of reusable plastic packaging in your operation?
Better access to parts at workstations
Reduced travel time in warehouses and work areas
Reduced loss due to damage
Maximized storage space and efficiency
Here are a few other benefits you may not have thought of, including safety and risk management. Reusable plastic packaging not only reduces damage to inventory and supplies, it also reduces the chance of workplace injuries or mishaps. Efficient stacking and storage methods using containers that are designed for your needs that also reduce weight on pallets.
Reusable packaging can be an optimal purchase:
According to a 2019 study published in the journal of sustainability, industrial and systems engineers studied the benefits of reusable packaging for the automotive industry, concluding that they ultimately saved money and preserved the environment for short term, longer term, or permanent use. Customized packaging did save time and money on assembly lines, and according to the study authors, could be an “optimal” purchase decision. For cost and environmental benefits, GM, Hyundai, Chrysler, and Ford all use returnable, reusable plastic packaging.
Reusable plastic packaging for your business is a smart, sustainable idea that works financially and environmentally.
