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ASSURANT CASE STUDY
CASI helped Assurant maximize their productivity by implementing the CASi-IBOD into their business.
Collaborating to Create a Safe, Consistent Solution
At Assurant, we work with leading mobile carriers and original equipment manufacturers to work on trade-in programs and trade-up insurance devices. Our business model is aiming to drive back value to the customer in multiple lanes of business.
Recently our team collaborated with CASI to provide a solution for our manual box opening processes. CASI is a full-service automation solution provider that specializes in the e-commerce sector, retail warehouses, third party logistics and distribution centers. Assurant’s Senior Process Engineer, Ravi Subramani, and Vice President Global Automation & Engineering, Pete Bremer, were involved in developing the process and share their insight into the partnership.
The Assurant Story
Identifying the Challenge
Assurant’s facility is focused on the business of connected living, centered around mobile devices, cellular telephones, tablets, laptops, and computers. The process in handling boxes starts with customers shipping their electronic devices to Assurant to receive newer models.
“The process that we would use was a very manual process. Manual knives and box cutters were very dangerous and time consuming. That involves a great deal of risk to our operators, potential cuts, and injuries at work,” said Bremer. “Cutting open millions of packages on all three shifts – there was a lot of variation in product styles, product cuts, and getting to that device. We were looking for a solution to cut open boxes safely and in a more consistent way, and CASI offered us the IBOD.”
Defining the Solution
“Things that we were trying to solve with the IBOD were,
of course, mass cuts, mass boxes being opened together,” emphasized Bremer. “Secondly, was reducing the variation
in the types of cuts and opens we had in boxes. Once
we got the IBOD in place, we never had any cuts, any
reported injuries coming off of the line, and we didn’t have
any damaged (internal) boxes that happened because of
manual cuts. Everything was super seamless after the
IBOD was introduced into the building.”
“It’s a very popular machine to run,” said Bremer.
“Operators choose to work on that piece of equipment
because they enjoy the flexibility, the change in their
normal workflow, and an opportunity to work on
something truly high tech. A secondary benefit for
us has been built around its ease of integration into
other processes and into our automation engineering
ecosystem.”
Implementation Outcomes
“Since the IBOD was put in place, all the operators were moved into the next
bottleneck in the process, where now you could run the whole process with
just two to three people on the line as compared to six to seven people on
the line,” said Subramani.
“We moved from 200 to an easy 700 to 800 units an hour. Beyond being one
of the earliest pieces of automation that we brought into our operation, the
CASi-IBOD has remained a staple,” Subramani noted. “The machine gives us
a lot of consistency. Every single box is ensured to be cut, and we have a line
that doesn’t require knives anymore.”
Automation Continues with CASI
“The option to continue to expand the solutions into our other facilities and add volume capabilities became a very easy decision for us,” said Subramani. “We started off with one IBOD, and it was the most liked product in the whole facility. Right now, in this facility, we have three. And overall, we have six
IBODs now in all the three Assurant facilities in the United States.”
“It is seamless to integrate into the operation, so if there’s anybody out there looking to purchase an IBOD, I think it’s a no-brainer because it integrates easily, it’s easy to operate, and then it just gives a lot of peace of mind to any operations because it’s one less thing you have to worry about,” added Bremer.
