Jeff and Jessica Westcott are not only a dynamic husband and wife duo, they are also the hard-working co-founders of Westcott Designs. Together, they are revolutionizing the niche aftermarket truck accessories and products industry with high-quality, exceptionally designed products.
Building on Jeff’s 20 years’ experience with Toyota, they know exactly what their customers want for a truly smooth and enjoyable ride. What started small, with Jeff designing back tailgates for Toyotas, has grown to include a wide range of products, including racks, lifts, sliders, bumpers, custom welded products and more for a variety or automotive brands.
By focusing on the needs of their customers, Westcott Designs has taken the market by storm. Their goal is to create high-end, high- quality aftermarket parts manufactured in the United States that better meet the needs of consumers. They want customers to be so blown away after buying one of their parts that they will want to buy them all. The Ernest team takes a similar approach, which has truly made this partnership a joyride.
As their business and customer base has grown, Westcott has been looking for ways to increase efficiencies. But with bulky parts that make shipping tricky, optimizing packaging became essential both for their bottom line and the customer experience. That’s when it was Ernest to the Rescue.
Jumpstarting Westcott Designs’ packaging
Because Westcott Designs creates components for trucks, their products are large, heavy, and come in shapes that make it difficult to use traditional packaging. The combination of the weight and size make shipping challenging both in terms of cost and durability of the exterior package. Given the company’s wide-reaching customer base, Wescott Designs often ships to places like Hawaii and even internationally to Dubai and Japan. Having robust, durable shipping options is critical. The company was also looking for boxes that prevent damage to the product, without adding too much expense.
As a company that strives to do everything it can in-house, Westcott Designs wanted to find packaging options that were both protective, easy to assemble, and cost-efficient. In collaboration with the Ernest team, Westcott developed a flexible packaging system that could be used for a variety of products, branded for maximum impact, and efficiently built to get their products on the road quickly.
“It’s been such a productive collaboration. The Ernest team is always looking for new ways to do better, just like us. They stop by, replenish our supplies, give us new ideas, and see how they can support our growing business.”
Jessica Westcott
Owner Westcott Designs“Ernest has givenus a truly exceptional packaging and shipping experience. Our key strategic focus from the beginning was doing everything internally. They’ve implemented systems and processes that ensure we can continue doing so for our company’s short and long-term future.”
Jeff Westcott
Owner Westcott DesignsThe effort to find the most efficient packaging options started with minimizing the dimensions of their boxes to optimize shipping costs. To reduce the number of box SKUs, the Ernest team designed a variety of cushioning and internal packaging options for 12 different product kits. We created custom boxes with die-cut foam for a high-end unboxing experience.
As the company expanded operations and grew into a new building, the Ernest team came in and did a full packaging analysis to ensure the best fit and most efficient process. We brought in a foam-in-place packaging machine to create customized cushioning for each product without having to individually cut foam to fit. This provided much needed shock absorption for their products, eliminated air pockets, and protected components from damage.
Ernest also helped develop a litho-laminated package for Westcott products. This integrated the company’s original artwork — a black, white and silver flag-inspired label—for maximum visual impact. With these printed boxes, Wescott Designs packaging had a more branded feel and increased the perceived value for customers.
As Westcott is looking to the future, the company is hoping to elevate its foam-in-place to polyethylene foam inserts. This is a more environmentally conscious choice because the foam can be returned and reused. Westcott Designs is also turning its attention to another niche— more fuel-efficient cars. As the models continue increasing, the growth of the demand for aftermarket parts is expanding, as well. This is also an opportunity for branded packaging that drives customer satisfaction and market impact. United by our mutual commitment to customers, the hope is it will be a smooth ride ahead as our companies tackle new opportunities together.
