Industry Interview: Cases2Go
David Root
President
Cases2Go
Q: What’s the background to Cases2Go and the military side of the business?
A: In the early 1980s I founded my first company, Professional Packing and Crating, with the focus of providing export packing services to local Tampa Bay industries. I was soon approached by defense contractors seeking military packaging services; upon completing several packaging courses through Aberdeen Proving Ground and gaining approval from the regional DLA packaging specialist, the company commenced MILSPEC packaging and packing operations. Professional Packing soon grew to be one of the larger packaging houses in Florida and enjoyed frequent referrals from DLA due to the quality of our work.
It was this knowledge, coupled with packaging design experience, which I brought to Cases2Go when I changed the company focus to the distribution of reusable containers. Presently I work closely with systems engineers early on in the design process, as cases are now viewed an integral part of a deployable package, rather than an add-on at the end of the process.
Q: What do you consider the predominate design features that they military looks for in its cases?
A: In today’s rapid response environment, the military is looking for case designs that are lightweight, durable and offer high performance under difficult conditions. This many times creates a challenge for the packaging engineer in that one feature can be mutually exclusive of another. For example, rotomolded plastic cases offer the best overall protection and performance, but tend to be heavy. Fiberglass composite cases are lightweight, but tend to crack under some impact conditions. Unfortunately, decisions frequently are made in favor of the weight-basis only; and this absence of regard for the mechanical and environmental performance characteristics of the container can easily compromise a critical system when it’s needed most.
Q: How important is it to the military for you to be able to custom design cases to meet urgent or unusual requirements?
A: The military customers supported by Cases2Go have come to rely on us not only for sensible and innovative case designs, but also for a focused response to their always urgent and often changing requirements. There have been numerous instances where a quantity of cases were designed for a certain piece of equipment, only to find later that the item went EOL and the replacement item was a different size. Here the need to get the system fielded is paramount, and we do not hesitate to go to the customer’s facility and do what it takes to modify the foam cushions.
I believe it’s this level of concern for our customers and the warfighters that rely on the equipment protected by our cases that makes a difference.
Although the majority of equipment we deal with is COTS, the configuration and grouping of those items into logical case segments form the basis of many custom designs. Weight and size constraints—airline carry-on, 2-man lift, end-use environmental conditions, operational equipment ventilation and cooling, and ESD characteristics are among the many factors that must be considered. In the end, it’s the company’s reliability, flexibility and integrity that matter most to the customer.
Q: How do you handle aftermarket support to the military with the many different case options you offer?
A: Our aftermarket support consists mainly of reconfiguring or replacing foam cushions, and the occasional replacement of a latch or other hardware item. One of the great features of a reusable case is it can be recommissioned for new duties simply by creating a new foam cushion.
Cases are not unlike the pink bunny—they keep going and going . . . It’s rare for us to encounter a case in a completely unusable state, although I suspect that as far as military deployments are concerned, cases do suffer casualties and are abandoned. But it’s equally rare to find failures in our commercial markets either.
Q: Have you seen any noticeable trends in the military case market and are you expecting any changes in the short term?
A: The trend I’ve noticed is towards smaller, travel-friendly systems—particularly of the size and weight that can be checked as baggage on commercial airlines. This trend is driven by two factors—the ongoing size reductions in IT and COMMS equipment and rapid deployment/rapid response scenarios. The movement has been going on for some time now and I expect it to continue for the foreseeable future.
Cases2Go is fortunate to enjoy close relationships with many of the top case manufacturers in the world, including Hardigg Industries—roto- and injection-molded cases—and Zarges—aluminum cases. Both companies provide levels of engineering innovation and support that are an integral part of our ability to meet the evolving requirements of our military customers. Change is driven by our customers, and Cases2Go is driven by the challenge of finding and implementing solutions. ♦
A: In the early 1980s I founded my first company, Professional Packing and Crating, with the focus of providing export packing services to local Tampa Bay industries. I was soon approached by defense contractors seeking military packaging services; upon completing several packaging courses through Aberdeen Proving Ground and gaining approval from the regional DLA packaging specialist, the company commenced MILSPEC packaging and packing operations. Professional Packing soon grew to be one of the larger packaging houses in Florida and enjoyed frequent referrals from DLA due to the quality of our work.
It was this knowledge, coupled with packaging design experience, which I brought to Cases2Go when I changed the company focus to the distribution of reusable containers. Presently I work closely with systems engineers early on in the design process, as cases are now viewed an integral part of a deployable package, rather than an add-on at the end of the process.
Q: What do you consider the predominate design features that they military looks for in its cases?
A: In today’s rapid response environment, the military is looking for case designs that are lightweight, durable and offer high performance under difficult conditions. This many times creates a challenge for the packaging engineer in that one feature can be mutually exclusive of another. For example, rotomolded plastic cases offer the best overall protection and performance, but tend to be heavy. Fiberglass composite cases are lightweight, but tend to crack under some impact conditions. Unfortunately, decisions frequently are made in favor of the weight-basis only; and this absence of regard for the mechanical and environmental performance characteristics of the container can easily compromise a critical system when it’s needed most.
Q: How important is it to the military for you to be able to custom design cases to meet urgent or unusual requirements?
A: The military customers supported by Cases2Go have come to rely on us not only for sensible and innovative case designs, but also for a focused response to their always urgent and often changing requirements. There have been numerous instances where a quantity of cases were designed for a certain piece of equipment, only to find later that the item went EOL and the replacement item was a different size. Here the need to get the system fielded is paramount, and we do not hesitate to go to the customer’s facility and do what it takes to modify the foam cushions.
I believe it’s this level of concern for our customers and the warfighters that rely on the equipment protected by our cases that makes a difference.
Although the majority of equipment we deal with is COTS, the configuration and grouping of those items into logical case segments form the basis of many custom designs. Weight and size constraints—airline carry-on, 2-man lift, end-use environmental conditions, operational equipment ventilation and cooling, and ESD characteristics are among the many factors that must be considered. In the end, it’s the company’s reliability, flexibility and integrity that matter most to the customer.
Q: How do you handle aftermarket support to the military with the many different case options you offer?
A: Our aftermarket support consists mainly of reconfiguring or replacing foam cushions, and the occasional replacement of a latch or other hardware item. One of the great features of a reusable case is it can be recommissioned for new duties simply by creating a new foam cushion.
Cases are not unlike the pink bunny—they keep going and going . . . It’s rare for us to encounter a case in a completely unusable state, although I suspect that as far as military deployments are concerned, cases do suffer casualties and are abandoned. But it’s equally rare to find failures in our commercial markets either.
Q: Have you seen any noticeable trends in the military case market and are you expecting any changes in the short term?
A: The trend I’ve noticed is towards smaller, travel-friendly systems—particularly of the size and weight that can be checked as baggage on commercial airlines. This trend is driven by two factors—the ongoing size reductions in IT and COMMS equipment and rapid deployment/rapid response scenarios. The movement has been going on for some time now and I expect it to continue for the foreseeable future.
Cases2Go is fortunate to enjoy close relationships with many of the top case manufacturers in the world, including Hardigg Industries—roto- and injection-molded cases—and Zarges—aluminum cases. Both companies provide levels of engineering innovation and support that are an integral part of our ability to meet the evolving requirements of our military customers. Change is driven by our customers, and Cases2Go is driven by the challenge of finding and implementing solutions. ♦