Since the company’s inception in 1946, Tupperware® has been renowned for its innovative plastic kitchenware design and production. Their signature products come in all shapes and sizes, allowing food to be stored, stacked and kept fresh within lightweight, seal-tight containers. Today, Tupperware® is continuing to revolutionize houseware with the help of Clemson students in the Tupperware® Corporate Creative Inquiry project. Led by Dr. Mark Krystofik, from the Watt Family Innovation Center, the team identified three focus areas within Tupperware® factories to optimize the current production and operations models. In order to introduce the team to the company and to the project, they visited the Tupperware® U.S., Inc. facility located in Hemingway, South Carolina. Since 1976, this tiny rural town has been the site of the only Tupperware® manufacturing and distribution center in the United States. During the visit, they toured the factory and spoke with the plant’s leadership about goals for the year. Krystofik, with more than 20 years of experience in the manufacturing and sustainability sectors, has been to numerous factories, and still, Tupperware® stands out. “No one is as advanced as Tupperware®for the molding of products. However, like all companies looking to grow, they realize there are opportunities to improve other aspects of their operations” he said. After their visit, the students defined three projects to optimize production and operation models at the Tupperware® factory. The first focused on the workstation design. The model allowed for easier and more efficient assembly production. “I don’t want [the assembly workers] to bend over and pick up heavy stuff a bunch of times, so this project is looking to improve material handling, placement of the items that are used, process steps, [workstation] lighting, anti-fatigue matting for reducing injuries and reach positioning,” Chase Harrison, a senior industrial engineering major, said. The second developed an automatic process to weigh products which will identify potential defects earlier in the production process and therefore save product material. The third project focused on the elimination of unnecessary transportation and a decrease in movement to complete tasks within the factory which can potentially save the company materials and money. To ensure that the best interests of Tupperware® were met, Josh Burgess, a junior finance major, worked to ensure that the models met the financial needs of the company.

“We’re determining how long it takes to get a potential investment paid back to [the company] in terms of sales, product, inventory, or whatever else it may be. The biggest question is to what degree is that decision worth,” Burgess said. Given that much of this Corporate Creative Inquiry project’s details are confidential, he emphasized that communication between all parties was critical. “The flow of information can be tricky sometimes. When you receive one piece of information, it ends up being a little bit different somewhere down the road, [and that changes] the way you need to approach the overall problem,” Burgess said.

The concept of this project is to start small. If our solutions work here, then they could be implemented at other Tupperware® locations.

The team visited the Hemingway plant again in February and they were proud to see some of their ideas already applied to the facility operations. “The concept of this project is to start small. If our solutions work here [in Hemingway], then they could be implemented at other Tupperware® locations,” James ‘Ben’ Case, a senior industrial engineering major, said. The team hopes the small start will build to be a large benefit to Tupperware®.

– by Piper Starnes