operations

Meet Starworks Packaging and Assembly, a fantastic social enterprise providing employment for adults with developmental disabilities in Vancouver, BC. Part of the Developmental Disabilities Association (DDA) Starworks generates much of its operating expenses from their pick and pack assembly and fulfillment business. I originally met with Starworks over 3 years ago when I launched Saul Good seeing great potential for a social enterprise partner to take on various fulfillment tasks in our Vancouver gift basket and corporate gift business.

Attention to quality

On our tour we conducted a few spot checks to make sure the corporate gifts looked as per our specifications, all the products we defined were included and the placement of our greeting and story cards were all in the right places. It's no surprise that organizations such as BC Hydro, Finning, Tourism BC and VISA all work with the social enterprise for various fulfillment needs.

Efficient operations

Starworks is fast! They were able to go through 21 pallets of product and fulfill our 750 gift order in just 2 days! They turned our order around very quickly to meet our schedule. Starworks employs a couple production coordinators who manage the assembly teams, ensuring that everyone understands their tasks and is well suited to it. They understand lean manufacturing strategies and develop simple, clear and balanced production between the team members to ensure the production line flows. They definitely know what they're doing and I'm confident in their ability to perform.

Everyone was so friendly!

Both Alex and I had a great time talking with the staff and employees on our Starworks tour. Some of the employees were quite chatty and engaged us in interesting conversations. We got to practice our German and Hebrew which took us both by surprise and left us with the understanding that its a mistake to underestimate the capabilities of developmentally disabled individuals.

Top 3 things we like about Starworks

1. Creates social good with every gift assembled. Starworks creates meaningful employment for adults living with developmental disabilities in Vancouver, BC. The workers were really happy completing their tasks and enjoy their work, even the sometimes tedious and repetitious work of the assembly line.
2. Friendly atmosphere. We felt really comfortable on our tour of their facility and found everyone very personable.
3. Delivery on time. No over promising, Starworks pulled it off, without a hitch!

Looking forward to our next opportunity to work with the team at Starworks!

After looking at the reclaimed parallam beams in our warehouse for the last 7 months I finally got around to following through on the reclaimed wood work bench I envisioned when Saul Good moved into share space with Eclipse Awards. Parallam is a recycled wood building product that Eclipse used to reinforce the ceiling to add strength for the green roof top deck on top of the building. It looks really cool, layers upon layers of in line wood grains, now playing the role of table top in our production space. It was just last week when I dropped into see our friends at Propellor Design, a local Strathcona Green Zone business that designs and builds rad lighting fixtures and furniture using eco materials, when I mentioned this project and they kicked down a super simple design that we bagan to work with. Besides scoring a design we also got a few boxes of reclaimed bamboo and nice hardwoods for our hand turned pens by Tradeworks Custom Products.

Building capacity & walking the talk

I hired Shane, one of the Eclipse production staff, to help turn the plan into action and after a day's work our new table is sorted! We're using it as our new and improved assembly benchy for our sustainable corporate gift and gift basket business. Not only does this new additon keep in line with our other green building and warehousing initiatives but also adds capacity to help meet growing demand for sustainable corporate gifts in Vancouver, BC. The new work bench has a lower shelf which we're using for our recycled gift boxes which frees up a bunch of space in our shelving for more the local organic gourmet food products we use in our gifts. With added production capacity we're gearing up for the Christmas and holiday gift season.

Getting Started

Over the past few weeks I've been chugging along as Saul Good's second employee and learning the quirks and charms of working in a sustainable corporate gift business. With a long and diverse list of projects, I've had to learn a lot on the fly, but I've found the challenge of doing something totally new nearly as rewarding as getting it done right.

Operational Systems

In many ways, being in a business of two means that the work is more streamlined and transparent. But moving from one to two employees is a dramatic change from an operational standpoint. I’ve been working to phase in some changes in the filing and production processes that will begin to move operations out of Saul’s head and into a flexible and easily accessible system. While we’re happy with the changes we’ve made, there’s been a certain element of trial and error in our development, so I’d happily take some advice!

Materials Exchange Initiative

One of the projects I’ve been working on outside of our operational overhaul is revisiting Saul Good’s gift box filler. We’ve been searching for a way to repurpose business waste into an attractive and easily managed asset. Drawing utility out of material that is ordinarily thrown away is a satisfying and challenging creative exercise. We’ve experimented with leftover plastic film, discarded office paper, wood shavings, and shredded phonebooks. We’re still looking for a material and process that’s the perfect fit of usefulness and ease. Luckily, there are plenty of neighbourhood businesses in the Strathcona Business Improvement Association that are ready and willing to partner with us on this project. We hope to have a sustainable and attractive solution soon!

Upcoming Changes

Meanwhile, Saul is working with local organic suppliers to create some exciting new gifts for the upcoming holiday season! Look for changes to our line of Organic Office Party Gifts and an entirely new line of gifts to celebrate weddings and other milestone achievements. Also, keep your eye on our website for some cool new featured products. Saul Good is always working (now with twice the manpower) to make giving better and better!