About three years ago, something strange happened with the cardboard tubes we use to send wall decals around the world. The story really began earlier, when I started our printing business. Shipping wall decals raised an immediate question about packaging. Cardboard tubes seemed the most sensible choice. They were strong and light, and a rolled decal fitted neatly inside without much wasted space.
I found a manufacturer, we ordered a whole pallet of tubes, and work carried on as usual. We sent them through Omniva, DHL and FedEx. Then, in the middle of December, our busiest season, FedEx told us that from January 1 they would no longer accept our round tubes without an extra charge. We could pay another 25 euros per parcel or change the packaging. Everything was already set up, the warehouse was full of tubes, and we had two weeks to solve it.
I called our account manager to find out what had happened. It turned out to be a mechanical problem. Our tubes were 60 cm long and 5 cm in diameter, and on the automatic sorting line they rolled, turned sideways and slipped between the conveyor rollers. A tube would get stuck and spin in place while other parcels hit it, bounced and created a jam. The line had to stop so someone could clear it by hand. As I understood the manager's explanation, FedEx had had enough, and the extra 25 euros was the price of handling our parcels manually.
I started looking for alternatives, which was not easy with so little time. FedEx offered us its own triangular tubes. But even with a decal weighing just 100 grams inside, we would have been charged for 4 kg of dimensional weight. That did not work for us. We looked for rectangular boxes, but nobody could make them by January 1.
We had to improvise, and the temporary solution was honestly absurd. We taped two of our round tubes together so the parcel could not roll. The decal went into one tube, and the other travelled empty. We also suggested triangular pieces and other attachments around a single tube, but FedEx would not accept those options. At the time, we could not think of anything better.
Packing two tubes took three times as long and used twice as much material. The funniest part began when customers received their parcels. Someone would open the first tube and find nothing inside. An angry email followed, demanding a refund because we had sent them air.
We had to explain that they needed to open the second tube taped beside it. Their order was in there. The empty tube was simply there to keep the sorting machine happy. People were surprised, but they found their orders.
Two months later, our specially made rectangular boxes finally arrived. We have used only those for FedEx ever since. Omniva and DHL still accept our round tubes, so apparently their sorting lines work differently. That is my story about logistics, empty tubes and traffic jams on a conveyor.
