Unidrive’s Journey to Streamlined & Recyclable Packaging
A 20% cut to the packaging bill on precision driveline parts bound for the USA.
Protecting precision components for sea freight while meeting recycling requirement.
Unidrive manufactures automotive driveline components and equipment, with a history dating back to 1953. Its products serve the automotive, mining, transport, agricultural and civil construction industries, including driveline components for the Chevrolet Corvette in the USA.
The brief. Unidrive needed packaging that would protect large, heavy components during overseas freight, support safe and ergonomic packing, and remain commercially viable.
The trigger. Its US customer introduced a requirement for recyclable packaging. This prompted Unidrive to seek an alternative to the foam and HDPE trays used in its existing packs.
The constraint. Unidrive’s parts are large and heavy, including full-length torque tubes and prop shafts, and were proving difficult to transport using sustainable materials alone. The packaging also had to hit the optimal density and number of parts per shipping container. Unidrive tried several sustainable sea-freight packaging suppliers first, and each failed to meet the brief: cost-effective, protective and recyclable, all three at once.
The turning point. Unidrive turned to PPI in hopes of finding a more environmentally friendly solution: one that would eliminate the foam and HDPE plastic trays.
- Structural packaging design
- Packaging engineering
- Prototyping and sampling
- Export and logistics packaging
- Sea-freight trials
- Recyclable materials
- In-house manufacturing
Unidrive
Driveline componentry, est. 1953
GM Holden, USA
Corvette driveline components – Torque tubes and prop shafts
Sea freight
Australia to the USA, containerised
Reduction in packaging costs compared with the previous foam and HDPE tray solution.
Foam and HDPE trays eliminated
Every component of the new pack is corrugated board, meeting GM Holden’s recyclable-only requirement.
Proven on real sea-freight shipments
Production samples were used for several shipments to the USA. Feedback from these trials informed adjustments to the final design.
What the final pack had to do
The objectives were clear but demanding given the size, weight and scale of Unidrive’s parts range. The solution needed to balance product protection, operator handling, container utilisation and material recovery.
Protection for precision parts
Custom corrugated cradles support and locate the torque tubes and prop shafts within the pack. Partitions separate components to help prevent contact during handling and transit.
Ergonomic packing
The packaging was developed with safe, practical loading in mind, making operator handling a core design requirement alongside transit protection.
Efficient container loading
Pack dimensions and component arrangements were considered together to achieve the required number of parts per shipping container.
Recyclable by design
The corrugated structure removed the need for foam and HDPE trays while meeting the project’s commercial requirements.
Prototype, ship it for real, adjust, repeat.
PPI’s packaging designers and engineers developed several prototypes to address Unidrive’s product protection, packing and freight requirements.
Production samples were then used on sea-freight shipments to the US customer. After each trial, PPI reviewed the feedback with Unidrive and modified the design as needed.
This collaborative process allowed the team to assess the packaging under actual shipping conditions and refine the structure before settling on the final solution.
“We used production samples to do several shipments in real life via sea freight to the client in the USA, and then sought feedback and adjusted the solution accordingly.”
Jon Strachan, Unidrive
Design and engineer packaging prototypes
PPI’s onsite packaging designers and engineers developed several corrugated pack versions sized to Unidrive’s parts range and container loading plan.
Trial production samples
Rather than simulate the journey, Unidrive sent real shipments to GM Holden by sea using each sample design.
Collect feedback from both ends
Unidrive’s operators and GM Holden’s receiving team reported on packing, transit condition and unpacking after each round.
Refine the structure
Each round of feedback fed a new set of design modifications until protection, ergonomics, density and cost all landed together.
The design was clever and practical. Not only did PPI eliminate foam packaging, making our business far more environmentally friendly, but we achieved an incredible 20% reduction in packaging costs.
“Working with the PPI team was easy, transparent, collaborative and communication was timely. Nothing was ever too much trouble for PPI.”
Jon Strachan, Unidrive
The result.
The final solution replaced Unidrive’s foam and HDPE trays with custom corrugated packaging, meeting its customers’ recycling requirements and reducing packaging costs by 20%. Developed through repeated sea-freight trials, the pack brought together protection for heavy driveline components, safe and practical packing for operators, and the required container loading configuration. The result gave Unidrive a commercially viable packaging solution for its ongoing export requirements.
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