Why Wood You?

A good Samaritan is someone who reaches out to lend a helping hand to their neighbors in need. Our neighbors aren’t necessarily limited to the people who just live next door. They are the people all around us, and I believe a good Samaritan helps their “neighbors” no matter who they are. Growing up in the small town of Beaverton, MI, I have seen this type of giving throughout my life. Being raised in a single stop light town with just over 1,300 people, school organizations rely heavily on donations to support programs. Robinson Industries has played a major role in my life through various donations they have made to the softball programs that I am a part of. Robinson Industries has always found a way to help Beaverton High School sports programs such as donating towards new hitting facilities, covering equipment costs and providing new uniforms.

Inclusivity means not just “we’re allowed to be here,” but “we are valued.” I’ve always said, “Smart teams will do amazing things, but truly diverse teams will do impossible things.” (Original quote by Claudia Brind-Woody.) I am proud to work for a company that is certified as a Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) business, meaning that we are recognized as a women-owned business in the U.S. The diversity levels in any given company have a direct impact on consumer behavior.

Do you remember reading about the introduction of the Gen2 pallet in one of my previous blog posts? We were so excited about offering this new and improved pallet and we had a goal of selling 10,000 pallets initially. We had performed all of the necessary tests on the pallet and we knew we had a winner. Next, we needed to gain real world experience about how the pallet would perform in the field and how the market would receive this innovation.

“Why Wood You?” as you may recall, is the name of our blog. Originally, it was a play on words because plastic often replaces wood in updated packaging systems. Also, “why ‘would’ you?” use other materials when plastic is the smart choice for improving your bottom line and being environmentally friendly?

2017 marks the 70th year of business for Robinson Industries. 70 years of servicing our customers to our very best ability. 70 years of laughter. 70 years of faith. 70 years of family memories. 70 years of valuing our employees. 70 years of learning and improving capabilities. 70 years of staying ahead of our competition.

You just graduated with a degree in packaging – congratulations! I actually recently graduated from college myself. (Although, not with a packaging degree.) I know firsthand the hard work and dedication you’ve put in over the years to your coursework. Now it’s time to enter the industry workforce.

The world of retail is about to get more organized, efficient and profitable thanks to custom reusable plastic packaging solutions from Robinson Industries. We recently solved a major retailer’s problem of how to best handle their products within their warehouses and distribution centers. 

Robinson Industries is celebrating the close of another successful year.

I’d like to welcome a very special guest blogger, Kennedy Shea. Kennedy has been employed at Robinson Industries for the last two years in various positions as she’s pursued her college education. This summer, she’s assisting me in the marketing department as a marketing intern. Trust me – she’s not the only one learning a lot this summer!

– Ronda

I’ve wanted to talk about our latest and greatest pallet for a few months now but our engineers and R&D people have kept a lid on this blogger until they hit perfection.

Happy 2016. It’s good to be back and starting another great year of manufacturing in Michigan.

It’s 90 degrees and humid today in Michigan. Maybe I’m a little distracted at work thinking about how nice it would feel to jump in a beautiful Michigan lake. So, in my wandering mind I’m remembering with amusement some of the unusual uses I’ve seen for our products over the years.