About Bluestar
Bluestar are an industry leading design and manufacturer of bespoke returnable packaging systems to industrial businesses. Our products reduce carbon footprints, increase environmental sustainability and help remove temporary packaging like wood and plastic from your manufacturing and handling processes.
Our design team will collaborate with our customers, and with our state-of-the-art design software we endeavour to create the most effective packaging solution for the project requirement.
No two projects are the same, so we take careful consideration in each process to choose the right orientation of the product and the best-optimised pack factor in the packaging space available.
We can create a 3D model showing the stacking of your transport trailers to optimise the solutions required.
Working with Bluestar, we've developed truly innovative transport and storage solutions. Their designs are brilliant, maximising storage space while ensuring both safety and accessibility for products.
Trusted by companies all across the UK
Streamlining processes with Bluestar
Using a variety of raw materials, Bluestar’s designs and products offer a choice of packaging solutions that will handle your product with care and with minimal contact. The use of steel frames or plastic boxes as the “mother” solution will be chosen and the internal structure will be advised during the design process.
Product protection can be created from a variety of materials dependant on weight, complexity and durability. The dunnage or inserts that we create are offered in various shore hardness and colours of both polyurethane and PVC.
Also available are PVC pockets, either lined with soft-touch or plain materials in different thickness and colour. Ask Bluestar about optimising your transport costs by utilising your transport space and reducing you carbon footprint at the same time.
If you’re wasting money on temporary packaging or excessively high transport costs, get in touch to arrange an informal discussion. Bluestar will help to amend each company’s process efficiency, profitability and environmental commitments.
FAQs
What should I consider when choosing a stillage?
There are many different things to consider when selecting the ideal stillage, beyond just size.
For efficient transport, prioritise stillages that maximise any available space on trucks or containers. It’s imperative to think about the stacking capabilities and potential nesting options for these units.
Also consider how the stillage secures parts during transport. It’s important to discuss features like dividers, cradles, or secure strapping points to minimise movement and prevent damage.
By carefully weighing these factors, you can choose a stillage that optimises space, safety and sustainability – a win-win for your operations.
What are the benefits of using stillages?
Modern logistics in industrial environments require optimal overall efficiency. Stillages, metal pallets and storage cages offer the perfect solution with many benefits, compared to traditional methods like wooden pallets or cardboard boxes.
Stillages are typically constructed from durable steel, eliminating the need for disposable wood or plastic pallets. This significantly reduces your impact on the environment.
Unlike wooden or cardboard equivalents, stillages are built to last and withstand the pressures of constant use. The materials used expend lifespans, reduce waste and maximise the reusability.
Custom stillages often boast a more space-efficient design compared to traditional pallets. Their standardised sizes and stackable nature allow for better utilisation of truck and container space. This can translate to reduced transportation costs and potentially fewer trips required.
What information do I need to provide for a bespoke stillage design?
To ensure a perfect fit for your transportation and storage capabilities, here’s the key information required when requesting a bespoke stillage design:
A 3D CAD (Computer-Aided Design) model of the part you’ll be storing or transporting in the stillage is essential. This allows designers to precisely measure the part’s dimensions and develop a stillage that securely accommodates its unique shape and size.
We need to know the optimal number of parts that you want to hold within a single stillage. This approach helps designers strike a balance between maximising space and ensuring the utmost stability and security of each part during handling and transport.
Each stillage will be used in a different location, so it is important that you specify the colour that’s needed. We have painting facilities here and are able to manufacture stillages with a variety of final colours.
Finally, it’s imperative that lineside usage is specified from the get-go. If the stillage will be used in a production line setting, informing the designer is vital. This allows them to incorporate ergonomic features such as easy-grip handles or angled bases for effortless handling and worker safety.
How long does it take to get a custom stillage made?
All in all, the stillage prototype creation process can take up to two months. We typically break this down into the following splits:
- Design process, concept – 1 to 2 weeks
- Design process, full drawing – 2 to 3 weeks
- Prototype stillage – 1 to 2 weeks
After the sign off of our prototype, we turn around the final production within a matter of weeks. Each of our stillage creation projects includes in-depth project management, ensuring there’s full transparency on timelines and deadlines.
What is the design process like when designing stillages?
Designing a bespoke stillage to perfectly suit your needs involves a collaborative process with clear communication at each stage. At Bluestar, we follow these key steps in our design process:
An initial digital drawing of the concept for customer approval. Feedback and optimisations are key to maximising the output and final product. We open up collaboration after the creation of the initial concept. This makes sure that each stakeholder is on the same page about the requirements in terms of part quantity and safety.
After this, our engineers will delve into the details with the creation of comprehensive production drawings, typically ranging from 30 to 150 pages depending on the design’s intricacy. These detailed drawings act as the blueprint for the stillage manufacturing and provide precise specifications for every component of the stillage. This includes material selection, dimensions, and clear assembly instructions, and more.
What are the environmental considerations of using stillages?
Custom stillages can be a game-changer, offering a sustainable alternative to traditional packaging and storage solutions.
Bluestar’s stillages help to reduce waste. Unlike cardboard boxes, custom stillages are reusable countless times. This eliminates the need for constant disposal and reordering of single-use packaging, significantly reducing waste generation.
Stillages can also lead to optimised optimised logistics from maximising storage space and minimising wasted space during transportation. This translates to fewer trucks needed, leading to reduced fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.
Steel, the primary material in custom stillages, is one of the most recyclable materials on earth. At the end of their lifespan, they can be recycled and used to create new steel products minimising their environmental impact even further.
