Praise Here is an elegant solution to a problem

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Jack Flynn

CGF II, Certified Grumble Framer Level 2
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Feb 19, 2004
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Monterey, VA
This has nothing to do with framing, branding, politics or NASCAR, normally my favorite topics. It does demonstrate that sometimes starting at square one results in a much better product with measurable direct and indirect cost savings and efficiencies. And it is all about the simple milk jug.

What can we accomplish in our shops if we take products, services, and processes one at a time and look at them with a "square one" approach?


http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/30/business/30milk.html
 
Wasn't impressed when Carol Doda changed juggs, and I'm not impressed now. I like the natural ones the best.
 
Resistance to change is a powerful influence, and it's tainting this new milk jug design.

I have not used one of them, but I refuse to believe normal people can't pour milk from that thing without spilling it. Are they so set in their ways that they are unable to adapt to such a simple change? Or are they just unwilling, regardless of the benefits?

Do you suppose negative reactions, such as those quoted in the article, happened when the first paper milk cartons were introduced, after decades of milk in bottles? Or when the first plastic milk jugs came out?
 
The information age shows no preference to good or bad, does it? Everything gets put out there no matter how little it means in the grand scheme of things.
 
I'm with Baer, I've never cared for plastic jugs.

:smileyshot22:
​
 
Paul N said:
Now here is a niche market / new business opportunity:

Classes to teach the masses how to use new gadgets. In this case, a new jug of Milk....
Click to expand...

Good idea, and I'm already on it, Paul N. I'm just finishing up the PowerPoint slide presentation and the course will be ready to go by noon today. Do you suppose it's too late to get this on the DecorExpo-Atlanta education schedule?
 
Held correctly, you can have great suckses.

But seriously... they were demonstrating these new milk jugs at the Safeway.... the demo person worked for the company, they weren't just some old lady they got at the senior center with palsy......

Even when she was demonstrating the "correct way" to pour.... she had milk all over.....
And, unlike a can of Turp or Unseal, there is no way to rotate the hole to the top and create a "pour".... so the hole is at the bottom and comes out like the river water in a dam's spill gate.
I'm not blaming the demo lady, I wasn't much better.... until I turned it around so the hole was up, but I had to use both hands......

Before she could catch herself, the demo lady mussed "now why the h3ll couldn't they have put the hole . . . " I left her with her hand over her mouth and the look of pure horror on her face.

New stuff ain't always good.... that's why they invented "recalls". And I haven't heard of a recall on the gallon jugs we've been drinking out of since 1964.
 
Baer Charlton said:
...New stuff ain't always good.... that's why they invented "recalls". And I haven't heard of a recall on the gallon jugs we've been drinking out of since 1964.
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This from a picture framer who starts the project with a tree.

But Baer, this new design has not been recalled, has it? So it must be good, right?

The Greenies must be ecstatic about this wonderful innovation. It saves space, enabling higher density in packaging and shipping, which saves precious fossil fuel. That's worth a few dribbles on the table, isn't it?
:thumbsup:
 
Am I crazy? Do they not see the forest for the trees?? They would have you believe that the question is 'New shape or old shape?' What we should be asking is, 'Translucent plastic or opaque paperboard?'

I happen to love milk so it's just a bonus that it also contains nutrients that are good for me. But I am sad to report that 2 of my allies in good health, Riboflavin and Vitamin A, don't get the respect they deserve from those pesky plastic containers....no matter what the shape is.

I just thought you might wanna know....Amy


From the NY Times - http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpa...6C0A963948260&sec=health&spon=&pagewanted=all

"In pasteurization, a 15-second exposure of milk to high temperatures destroys harmful bacteria but leaves nutrients virtually intact. To retain maximum nutrients in milk, it should be stored in the dark in opaque containers. Milk in plastic bottles under fluorescent lights in the supermarket loses much vitamin A and riboflavin. "


From BusinessNet: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3301/is_n9_v94/ai_14534016

"Within 24 hours, light penetration of milk can result in a loss of up to 14 percent of the riboflavin in skim milk, up to 11 percent of the riboflavin in lowfat milk and as much as 8 percent of the riboflavin in whole milk. Low-fat and skim milk are fortified with vitamin A, according to Food & Drug Administration regulations, because the original vitamin A is lost during the skimming process," Kapica adds. "Light can deplete as much as 31 percent of this added vitamin A in skim milk." This vitamin loss is most dramatic in skim and 2% milks, which now represent nearly 60 percent of total U.S. milk consumption. When milk is packaged in paperboard cartons, 96 percent of the destructive light is blocked out, studies show.
 
Jim Miller said:
This from a picture framer who starts the project with a tree.

But Baer, this new design has not been recalled, has it? So it must be good, right?

The Greenies must be ecstatic about this wonderful innovation. It saves space, enabling higher density in packaging and shipping, which saves precious fossil fuel. That's worth a few dribbles on the table, isn't it?
:thumbsup:
Click to expand...

Jim, I think it is a good idea! Less packaging, more efficient shipping, should equate to lower prices for all. Only problem I can see is that there will be lots of college dorms with no bookshelves!

I'm thinking there is no secondary hole to let air in, like on a plastic 5 gallon gas can. Thus the milk splooges out instead of pouring. Looks like a alpha version of a product that got shoved to beta, then released!
 
Does anybody else here remember when they sold milk in plastic bags and you had to use the seperate non-disposable milk pitcher to pour it? Whatever happened to that? Was that just an Upper Michigan/Canada thing in the 80's?

I remember thinking it was fairly bright at the time, it cut back on waste and we didn't have any problems pouring it.
 
I get my Milk vicariously, through ice-cream or cheese.....;)

Or from a carton. It lets no light in, bio-degradable and pours nicely. Lactaid, reduced fat, by the way. And honestly I don't care if I ever drank milk again, but need my cheese and ice-cream!
 
Paul N said:
I get my Milk vicariously, through ice-cream or cheese.....;)

Or from a carton. It lets no light in, bio-degradable and pours nicely. Lactaid, reduced fat, by the way. And honestly I don't care if I ever drank milk again, but need my cheese and ice-cream!
Click to expand...
Same here never could drink that stuff,even though I like it. regardless of the container,I`ll still buy my milk from my next door neighbor who drives a milk delivery truck,and keeps it in the driveway..interesting street here. L.(pass the chocolate soymilk...):kaffeetrinker_2:
 
But will the new milk jugs be as useful for other things as the ones we now have? I can't tell from the pictures if they are translucent like the current ones, which make handy minigreenhouses for tomato plants in the spring just by cutting off the bottom and popping them over your little tomato plants. If the day is warm, you can take the lid off and vent your greenhouse and then when the plants get bigger, you can turn the milk jug the other way and stick it in the ground next to the plant with the lid off to use as a drip irrigator. Bet you can't do that with the new ones.
 
Fixing a problem that has already had a solution for years.

If you go to Europe, you can buy milk in a box, similar to those juice boxes for kids, only larger. And it's stocked compactly on regular shelves, rather than in expensive refrigerator units. It'll stay nice and fresh there until you get it home, and once you open it, you'll have to refrigerate it. Easy to ship, easy to merchandise, easy to store, easy to pour.
 
That's Parmalat and if I am not mistaken it has been nuked. Sorry "irradiated".

It's available here, on the grocery shelves and has one heck of a half-life, I mean shelf life :) !
 
beta said:
Does anybody else here remember when they sold milk in plastic bags and you had to use the seperate non-disposable milk pitcher to pour it? Whatever happened to that? Was that just an Upper Michigan/Canada thing in the 80's?
Click to expand...

I went to summer camp in Algonquin Park in the late 60's - early 70's and we had the milk in bags like that there. It was fun pouring it onto cereal that came in boxes with both English and French text on them.
:cool: Rick
 
Square One

Jack Flynn said:
What can we accomplish in our shops if we take products, services, and processes one at a time and look at them with a "square one" approach?
Click to expand...

I'm going to put my corner weld in a bag.
 
beta said:
Does anybody else here remember when they sold milk in plastic bags and you had to use the seperate non-disposable milk pitcher to pour it? Whatever happened to that? Was that just an Upper Michigan/Canada thing in the 80's?

I remember thinking it was fairly bright at the time, it cut back on waste and we didn't have any problems pouring it.
Click to expand...

I remember seeing milk in bags, but it was put in milk dispensers in restaurants and college "feed lots". They had a plastic udder like appendage that got "pinched" by the dispenser. Maybe the grocery you shopped at got these in by mistake and were trying to make lemonade out of lemons!
 
Baer Charlton said:
Wasn't impressed when Carol Doda changed juggs, and I'm not impressed now. I like the natural ones the best.
Click to expand...

wow... you remember carol doda? at first i didn't think you and i were going to get along...:smiley: this changes everything:smiley:
 
Bob Doyle said:
Maybe the grocery you shopped at got these in by mistake and were trying to make lemonade out of lemons!
Click to expand...

The place the sold milk in bags (and I think still does) is a midwest convience store chain called Kwik Trip. They've sold it like that for years. They have a dairy that supplies to them with it packaged that way.
 
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