By Rebecca, Canine Marketing Manager

If you are local to the New England area, then you know this past weekend was HOT with temperatures in the upper 90’s! But not hot enough to keep SmartPak from attending two great dog events! The first was an agility trial co-sponsored by Canine Health Events held in Westfield, MA. We made a ton of friends at this event and got to see some amazing canine athletes.

Rocky, the Chihuahua, completely owned the course and we were blown away by his talent and big heart. After his run, he stopped by our booth for some well-deserved treats and left sporting a new SmartPak bandana. It seemed like he started a trend with his SmartPak bandana. Thankfully, we had plenty of treat and food samples on hand so no dog left hungry or unfashionable.

We also attended Paws In The Park event that is held annually by Save A Dog. This year it was held in Lincoln, MA, and we estimate about 200 dogs attended. There were dogs of all shapes and sizes, from Miniature Daschunds to some of the largest Great Danes we’ve ever seen! Thankfully, we had plenty of treats and water on hand to help keep our dog friends energized and cool despite the heat and humidity. The dogs had a really fun time and we had a great time meeting new friends (both human and canine) and talking with owners about their healthy pets.

By Colby, V.P. Web Marketing

Farewell Teddy… we will all miss you.

Sadly, the horse world lost eventing super-pony Theodore O’Connor as the result of a tragic barn accident last week. He was an incredible creature, standing just over 14.1 hands, he had the stride, scope and presence of a much larger horse. Not only did this incredible pony manage to compete at the highest levels in eventing (the only holder of a permanent pony card ever to do so), but he was incredibly successful, being named USEF Horse of the Year in 2007. Teddy had two top six finishes at the Rolex CCI**** in 2007 and 2008 and won both an individual and team gold medal at the Pan Am games last year…an incredible feat for any horse, nonetheless a pony who started his eventing career at the age of seven.

I was fortunate enough to see Teddy run around Rolex the past two years and it was truly something to be seen. Teddy had hordes of followers rushing from one cross-country jump to the next just trying to catch a glimpse of the diminutive phenom as he effortlessly cleared those massive jumps. I have never seen such a reaction to any equine athlete and think that it is because Teddy’s story and his success speak to the heart of every little girl who entertained dreams of taking her pony to the highest levels of the sport. Because Teddy “happened” all things seem possible with the horses in our lives. It is only too bad that the world didn’t get to see that little guy win gold at the Olympics. My heart goes out to the O’Connors and everyone involved in bringing Teddy to the world stage. What you experienced last week is every horse owner’s worst nightmare and it makes us all realize how fragile these grand animals really are. Theodore O’Connor made an enormous hoofprint on the horse world and will certainly be missed…the best we can do is to hug our horse(s) and not be afraid to dream of goals that seem impossible…

by Karen Sinnott, Marketing Assistant

We’re back from Rolex and even as we finish unpacking, the office is still abuzz with the stories from such an exciting year! Our congratulations go out to Phillip Dutton who put in a really awesome performance.

For those who attended this year, you might think that pink has become the new black - thanks to SmartPak! Pink scrub boots, SmartPink saddle pads, and even pink Tailored Sportsman breeches, couldn’t be missed in the SmartPak tent. With 10% of the net profits going to Breast Cancer Research, shoppers were eager to pick up pieces from our SmartPink plaid line, which includes everything from Show Totes to Garment Bags to Breakaway Halters.

And pink SmartPak hats were adorned by all (well almost all!) on the Course Walk with Kim Severson and Jan Byyny, providing some much needed shade from the beating sun – quite the opposite from last year’s weather where it poured the entire walk! Held on Friday afternoon, over 150 people (and well over a dozen dogs) joined the walk! Kim and Jan did a great job of explaining their tactics to us and keeping us all entertained along the way with their jokes and banter. Everyone seemed to enjoy this free event, minus the Rottweiler puppy that really would’ve just preferred to nap.

Sunday was a sad day as we all bid farewell to Winsome Adante, Kim Severson’s accomplished mount, who was officially retired during a ceremony prior to stadium jumping. As her famous partner of years, “Dan” as he is affectionately known, has quite the list of accomplishments (he was named the 2002, 2004 and 2005 Horse of the Year by the USEA making him the second highest scoring horse in the history of U.S. eventing). SmartPak has been a strong supporter of Dan’s career since the very beginning, providing him with his daily supplements in SmartPaks. And we were thrilled to get to participate in this notable ceremony! Dan looked so handsome as he adorned a custom Blue Ribbon cooler in black and gold, that showcased his career accomplishments. And boy did they fill up the cooler. To further celebrate Dan’s remarkable career, SmartPak made a $1,000 donation of supplements to CANTER Mid-Atlantic to assist them in the care of their retiring racehorses. We think with his Thoroughbred bloodlines, Dan would approve!

So as another Rolex has come to an end, we’d like to take the opportunity to thank everyone that stopped by our booth; whether it was to do a little retail therapy or just to say hello. We love attending shows like Rolex not just because it’s one of the coolest shows of the year, but also because it gives us an opportunity to meet our fantastic customers and in many cases, their fantastic dogs! Which by the way - next year we promise to bring even more cool dog products for your 4-legged friends. We’d also like to extend our deepest condolences to Laine Ashker for the loss of her horse Frodo Baggins and to Sarah Hansel for the loss of her horse The Quiet Man. Our thoughts are with them during this difficult time.

Can’t wait to see you again next year!

By Paal Gisholt, CEO

Happy Earth Day, SmartPakers!

I wanted to take this day, when we should all be thinking about ways we can minimize our environmental footprint, to share some of the things we have been working on to reduce SmartPak’s impact on the environment.

Since our early days, we have been mindful of “treading lightly on the earth.” But when several of us saw Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth, we shifted gears from simply being mindful of environmental issues to making it a serious priority where we would spend significant time and investment capital.

To keep the pressure on ourselves to keep making improvements, I am going to need your help. I will be soliciting ideas from each of you to identify ways we can reduce our collective environmental impact. And as part of this effort, I commit to each of you that we will implement every feasible idea as soon as we can and in any case prior to next Earth Day.

Some of you may be aware of some of the projects we have been working on this past year, but I wanted to share the full list with each of you so you can feel the same pride in our accomplishments that I do!

Waste/Materials Consumption

• The blister material we use is 100% recycled PET (35% post consumer). So unlike the virgin plastic used in buckets, SmartPaks are already on their second life.
• We chose PET, despite its being more expensive than other plastics, for three reasons: 1) it has the best oxygen and moisture barrier properties (that’s why it’s used for soda), 2) as Category 1 plastic, PET is the most widely and successfully recycled plastic in the US (could be your fleece jacket and the carpeting in your home both contain recycled PET), and 3) other plastics like PVC, while cheaper, utilize Chlorine (PVC stands for Poly Vinyl Chloride).
• We use new high-precision blister forming equipment that has enabled us to form a strong blister while reducing the thickness of the SmartPak blisters from 30 mil to 21 mil plastic, a 30% reduction. This means that we often use less total plastic to put a product in SmartPaks than one packed in those heavy white buckets.
• We are in the process of replacing the cardboard shipping box (which was prone to tearing) with an ultrathin shrink wrap. This change reduces the amount of packaging by over 85% on average.
• We recently changed the shape of the SmartPaks to make them easier to recycle. We altered the shape ever-so-slightly so that the new SmartPaks stack twice as densely as before. This means that our customers can take half as many trips to the recycling center. Please remember to thank customers for recycling their SmartPaks!
• All our order paperwork is printed on recycled paper.
• All our cardboard shipper boxes are made from certified recycled cardboard.
• In 2008 we have reused 6798 cardboard boxes so far. Most of the product sold in the equine industry (including that sold by tack shops) moves around in cardboard boxes. Rather than breaking those boxes down for recycling or throwing them away, we re-use those boxes to ship product to customers. This does take extra effort. But it’s right for the planet and helps us to keep prices/shipping low.
• We use “master shippers” to place multiple SmartPaks in a single larger shipper box, rather than putting each SmartPak in its own box. This saves cardboard, is more efficient to ship, and is easier on barn managers. We recently expanded the size of the largest shipper box to be even more efficient.
• We have custom-sized shipping boxes made to our specifications that fit the SmartPaks so tightly that we do not need to use void fill (peanuts/air filled bags that can't be recycled) to protect SmartPaks. This conserves materials, and it also ensures that the package takes up as little space in the UPS truck as possible, conserving fuel. (Buckets, on the other hand, come in so many sizes that it is tough to get a precise fit, and often must be shipped with lots of void fill and/or separately from other items.)
• Because of the difficulty of operating a continuity shipping system for SmartPaks with a traditional catalog, we sometimes split orders that could have been shipped in one box into two or more boxes. We’ve re-engineered our fulfillment system to address this problem, and we’ve eliminated a majority of the times this occurs.

Lighting and Electrical Conservation

• We have replaced older warehouse lighting with modern, efficient lighting (and we got this partially funded by the power company).
• We have installed occupancy sensors in all private offices, bathrooms, and conference rooms.
• We have or are installi
ng windows and skylights to increase the amount of natural light. In some rooms, we don’t even turn the lights on except in evenings in winter.
• We have removed incandescent lighting, which is an energy hog.
• We operate our heavy industrial machines off 480 volt power, which is more efficient than 208.
• We have replaced old fashioned computer monitors with flat panel displays, which use much less power and generates less heat.
• We learned that our main printer (the one named Seattle Slew) is far more energy efficient (and more economical) than desktop printers, so we direct major print jobs that way (and print double sided where possible).

Heating and Cooling

• We’ve purchased energy saving software to turn our AC and heat on/off at exactly the right time of day to get the office to a comfortable temperature (starting earlier on very hot or cold days and just in time on milder days).
• We allow a wider range of acceptable temperatures in the office than we did previously (we operate at +/-2 degrees). This causes the heat or A/C to kick on less often and run longer, which is more efficient. It also prevents the heat system from fighting the cooling system.
• To reduce air conditioning load, we cover our skylights in the summer, and draw the blinds on very hot days.
• We use a hyper-efficient evaporative cooling system to cool the building when the air is dry enough to permit its use.
• We use outside air for cooling needs when the temperature is cold enough.
• To help reduce the cooling load in the summer, we’ve worked to reduce incidental heat generation in our office and facilities. We don’t have any incandescent lights in the whole facility (fluorescent bulbs burn much cooler). We have replaced most of our CRT style computer monitors with cool running, energy efficient flat panels. And we have reduced the number of heat sealing machines (which generate a lot of heat) from 4 down to 1 hyper-fast machine.
• In conjunction with a current facility expansion, we are installing a heat exchanger system to recapture otherwise lost heat/air conditioning as we draw fresh air into the facility.

Fuel Savings

• The "Barn Buddies" program contributes to significant fuel savings. When the UPS driver drops off 10 packages in that one stop, that half mile of travel by UPS compares to 20 individual trips to the tack store in 20 vehicles. If the tack store is 10 miles away, on average, that's 400 miles of round trip driving vs. the half mile traveled by the UPS driver.
• We take delivery of most of our supplements in large, reusable bulk totes. This saves fuel in two ways. The bulk totes often can accommodate up to 2X as much product per pallet, helping to place fewer trucks on the road. We also avoid shipping around a lot of heavy white plastic tubs whenever we buy in bulk (many buckets weigh more than a pound).
• Our supply chain is very efficient compared to most of our competitors. We buy in large quantities—full pallets if not full truckloads shipped point to point. By shipping full pallets, and full trucks, we avoid the inefficiencies, waste, and poorly “cubed” trucks associated with piecemeal supply.
• With over 200 people coming to work at SmartPak each day, the energy used in commuting is significant. We already have quite a number of people from our production team commuting together in vans, and we are looking at ways to encourage and incentivize the rest of our team to do more commuting together.

Catalog

• We’ve used Quad Graphics as our printer for the past four years, and we are proud of that association. We chose Quad in part based on their excellent environmental track record. Quad was the first printer to use soy based inks. They have strong energy conservation and environmental policies. They charge a little more, but we feel good about using the same printers used by many of the country’s top environmental groups.
• We use a smaller version of our catalog (about 70 pages) that contains only best sellers that we mail to prospects. This saves a great deal of paper compared to our competitors, most of whom circulate a book with over twice as many pages.
• We work to minimize the number of catalogs that go to homes that are not interested by using sophisticated targeting techniques. We also maintain a “do not mail” file to eliminate catalogs going to homes of people who’ve requested that we not contact them.
• Because we have so many customers who use our website for most of their ordering, we circulate our catalogs on a less frequent cycle than many of our competitors (yes, we track these things).
• We are adding functionality to our shipping system that will allow us to see if we have inserted a catalog in a recent order so that we avoid sending two catalogs in close proximity. This is both annoying to our best customers and it wastes resources and money. This is hard to implement and will likely never be perfect, but we are working to get it as close as we can.

Office

• Our main office printer is set to print double sided as the default.
• We have moved most of our processes to paperless systems. All customer orders other than fax orders and prescriptions are processed with paperless systems. We recently put our purchase order system over to a paperless fax board system.
• We use email for all interoffice correspondence – no memos.
• We have an aggressive recycling program in the office: we separate all recyclables into paper, glass, plastic, and garbage.

So Happy Earth Day, SmartPakers. And start thinking about the next wave of ideas to keep this set of improvements going!

Paal

By Becky Minard, Senior Vice President & Founder

Sometimes you just have to brag. Please forgive me.

We have this thing that we do here at SmartPak – every single time we fail to meet a customer’s expectations, for whatever reason, we log that event as a ‘failure’ and we have a weekly meeting to review each and every failure to see what we could have done better. After awhile we realized we were very good at sharing our failures, but not as good at sharing our many successes.

And so was born the “Happy Customer Feedback” email. Now every time a customer compliments us we send their email around to the entire company. This is where the bragging part comes in: we get 2, 3, sometimes 5 of these EVERY DAY! Unsolicited feedback from the most important people in our world.

Here are a few things customers said about SmartPak THIS WEEK, really, I swear this is just from this week and none of these people are my mother:

“You guys ARE the best customer service I have ever dealt with, hands down. Thank you so much for your instant attention to the matter. With great appreciation.”

“I've used SmartPak for years now and have no idea how I'd manage without y'all! You were one of the first to carry the One AC that keeps my horse alive and finding you was a Godsend… at the time, our vet was unaware of this product. My research (I'm a librarian) led me to the product, and you were one of the VERY few places that carried it! We've been with you ever since. Your business concept is brilliant but what REALLY impresses me is your customer service! Whenever I call, I end up speaking with someone who knows not only your merchandise but also horses!! They take their time, and they KNOW what they are talking about. I don't know how you round up your staff....but each and every one of them that I have dealt with is a star!”

“Thank you for such great service and products. I always thought that I shouldn't/couldn't afford SmartPaks. Now I don't know how I could afford to do without them. I only have the 2 horses and 1 dog so it's not like I couldn't scoop out of buckets for them, but I love not having to go to the store or reorder every 4-6 weeks. I also love the packaging and lack of more stuff for the landfill. Thanks so much!”

“Thank you SmartPak! You have helped me learn so much about giving my horse their supplements. I love how easy it is to give my horse his supplements, and when we go to shows, we just take one or two or three SmartPaks and don't have to fiddle around with bags and buckets. It makes going to shows with every horse in the barn fun, and not as stressful. I really love your products, the customer service, and the quick shipping. I'll always use SmartPaks!”

“Thank you for responding to my question regarding the SmartFlex Senior formula! SmartPak Equine always puts the extra touches on its products, and its customers... Other Equine catalogs do not give adequate descriptions on their products they're selling, which makes it extra difficult to see if it is appropriate or not for the horse. At SmartPak, your descriptions are almost like talking to the maker of the supplement themselves, and almost right there you know if it's right or not. Even if there are questions, you have educated staff willing to help you anytime. We also go to SmartPak for the cutest embroidery options, and high quality items with decent prices. What would horse people do today without educated people and a company like SmartPak to help them with their questions?”

And here’s my personal favorite from this week: “SmartPak is the best thing to happen to a barn since the wheelbarrow!”

Nothing can make you love your job more than knowing you are making people happy and that you work with total ROCK STARS! Thanks for taking the time to read my blog!