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MINDING YOUR
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MAIL By Mike Ashley |
Lots of businesses
make inflated claims about their products, but
Xpander Pak makes inflated products so you won't
have to make claims. |
 artwork by Michael Goodman |
The
Glen Allen-based company makes envelopes that
inflate to protect their contents during transit.
Its signature product is the Super Protective Shipper, which contains two layers of vacuum-sealed, compressed polyurethane foam. When punctured, it expands to four or five times its original size and totally encases the contents to prevent movement and stress during shipment. The package expands when air fills the vacuum, and Nylon reinforced film and foam provide insulation from extremes of temperature. |
| The company has attracted
attention by mailing an egg to the U.S.
Postmaster General, and local postmasters have
conducted their own tests. A North Dakota
postmaster successfully mailed a light bulb to a
friend, and an Oregon postmaster dropped an egg
in an Xpander Pak from his post office roof to
show how protective the package is. The company's biggest clients are pharmaceutical and medical diagnostic companies, The U.S. Post Office, other domestic and foreign postal services, and electronics manufacturers. These customers, says company President Joseph Sullivan, find Xpander Pak takes about 70 percent less time to pack than a box or envelope. And because of the lightweight design, Xpander Paks are significantly cheaper to ship. Sullivan moved the company's main offices from California to Virginia in 1994 to be closer to its key foam supplier, The Carpenter Co. of Richmond. Xpander Pak's revenues were nearly $3 million this past fiscal year, and Sullivan says the company is on the verge of several major deals. "It's not a bad start from zero dollars when we first moved here," Sullivan says. "I think we can easily double that."
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