SUCCESS STORIES
A Partnership Built on Speed, Trust and Collaboration
Packaging Corporation of America (PCA) regularly supports customers with large, heavy and demanding packaging requirements. Automotive is one sector that requires packaging solutions beyond corrugated.
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PCA meets the demands of automotive customers with help from partners who understand urgency, and high-pressure manufacturing environments. Pro-Form Custom Packaging has been one of those partners for more than 16 years.
Speed
Trust
Collaboration
A Natural Fit from the Start
PCA is one of North America’s leading packaging producers. Their manufacturing plants produce heavy-duty corrugated shipping materials, including triplewall corrugated. PCA’s Plymouth, Michigan plant is one of the few facilities in the country producing these materials that are significantly stronger than normal shipping boxes.
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The relationship between PCA and Pro-Form began with a shared customer base in the automotive industry. PCA supports customers shipping oversized and heavy components such as exhaust systems. These applications often require more than outer corrugated protection. They demand engineered interior packaging like foam and custom bulk packs to ensure products arrive intact.
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Pro-Form’s strong foam manufacturing capabilities and proximity to key end users in Indiana and surrounding regions made them a natural fit. What began as sourcing foam and packs soon evolved into more integrated solutions combining foam, packs and assemblies.
Delivering Under Pressure
Automotive customer asks include next-day turnarounds, last-minute assemblies or multiple truckloads of packaging required in a 24-hour window. According to Daniel Brown, Regional Sales Representative at PCA, Pro-Form routinely supports requests that are tight, demanding and sometimes seemingly unreasonable.
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“Pro-Form has risen to the challenge time and again,” says Brown. “Working overtime, expediting assemblies, finding creative ways to meet delivery requirements, they understand what’s at stake for our business and customers.”
Transparency and Communication
A defining characteristic of the partnership is transparency and communication. PCA works closely with Pro-Form’s leadership and customer service team, particularly Vice President, Business Development Trey DeHart and Customer Service Representative Lisa Owens.
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Pro-Form reacts quickly and decisively to support PCA. One time when a broken-down delivery truck could have delayed customer shipments. Pro-Form quickly sourced alternative transportation to ensure deliveries stayed on schedule.
Pro-Form also goes beyond production for PCA with warehousing, new program setup and quoting. They function as true extensions of PCA’s operation, making it easier to scale solutions without added complexity.
Growing Together Over Time
PCA has watched Pro-Form grow its capabilities over time. Pro-Form’s expansion from foam and manufacturing to wood crates and broader packaging solutions opened new opportunities for collaboration.
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As PCA’s customers’ needs have evolved, Pro-Form has adapted alongside them. They remain flexible, hands-on and willing to step in on-site when quality or engineering issues require immediate attention.
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“They always show up. They’ve sometimes traveled hours to support customers in person,” says Brown.
Looking Ahead
Warehousing, foam solutions and integrated packaging systems remain key areas of growth for PCA’s Plymouth plant and potentially other facilities nationwide. These future projects present opportunities for PCA and Pro-Form to continue their partnership based on speed, trust and consistency.