Building a better box Building a better box (October 27, 2004)

Palo Altan teams with partner to pursue American Dream

by Sue Dremann

When inventor Tom Luu talks about his shot at the American Dream, his eyes twinkle. He's not trying to invent the next rocket ship to remote galaxies, or the next "killer app" to revitalize Silicon Valley.

He just created a better box.

In Luu's mind, simple is better. "The key for any of my ideas is how can I make something convenient for the customer," he said.

Luu and business partner Jeff Frick -- the CEO of their company, Farallon Manufacturing, Inc. -- launched their product, the "PakEZ All-in-One Shipping Box," seven months ago. Unlike most start-ups in Silicon Valley, the pair haven't taken any outside funding. So far, they've invested $200,000 of their own money.

PakEZ isn't so much an improvement on the ubiquitous cardboard box, but an entire packaging system. When it comes to taking on the competition, Luu and Frick are banking that what's inside the box will count.

PakEZ's patented "suspension system," cradles fragile merchandise in a specially designed bubble pak pouch. The protective pouch is sealed and a twist-tie strap holds merchandise firmly in place -- away from the sides of the box. The suspended pouch protects its contents from jostling. Space becomes the insulator, preventing breakage.

The boxes have been tested by Westpak, Inc. a major player in product and material testing of packaging, Frick said.

The all-in-one shrink-wrapped package also contains all the components anyone would need, minus a stamp -- a box, patented packing pouch suspension system, pre-cut peel-able strips of shipping tape and a shipping label.

"It's like a Jiffy mailer on steroids. With a Jiffy mailer, you just peel off the strip of tape an seal the package. Our product is a step up from it, using a box," Frick said.

PakEZ's competitors, such as Redi-Post, don't contain convenient pre-cut strips of shipping tape, he added.

Luu invented the patented suspension concept because of personal experience. A former consumer electronics dealer, he often received damaged or broken merchandise. Regular packing materials didn't seem to prevent the problem.

But even in the simplest concepts, there are a thousand details.

The PakEZ has been through four iterations, incorporating potential customers' wants as Frick works to find venues to place the product. "We've made a thousand improvements," he said. They've changed everything from the grade of box and bubble pak to paring down assembly instructions.

Finding the proper niche for the PakEZ has also been a challenge. "The battle is won and lost on the floor" of retail stores," Frick -- who worked in sales and product development for two Silicon Valley start-ups -- said. Although mom-and-pop shipping centers might seem a natural, Frick said many are reticent to take on a product that allows customers to do the work themselves.

PakEZ hasn't made it onto the shelves of the big boys yet, but Frick has talked to Longs Drugs, United Postal Service and Office Depot. Locally, the boxes can be purchased at Palo Alto Hardware.

The two men met when Frick was a salesman for Mitsubishi and Luu was a customer. Frick left Mitsubishi to get his graduate degree from Wharton School of Business, then moved to Palo Alto with his wife in 1997. He worked for two start-ups, including Asera, but Frick's dreams of becoming a Silicon Valley billionaire were dashed after he was laid off in 2002.

After fleeing Vietnam in 1980, Luu harvested mushrooms at Campbell's farm near Santa Cruz, where he also tinkered and created many improvements in their machinery. He later joined his sister in the consumer electronics business, catering to the Vietnamese community in San Jose. They owned four stores.

But in 2001, his retail store in downtown San Jose was bought by the city to make room for anew city hall facility. Luu, who always kept an invention or two in the back room of his retail store, moved forward with his PakEZ idea.

Unsure of his English, he asked Frick to be president and CEO of the new enterprise.

In the warehouse, a diminutive and soft-spoken Luu, 53, was assembling PakEzs on his hand-made box sealing machine. An inveterate tinkerer, Luu designed and built the sealing machine himself using an old ski, which serves as a long clamp-bar suitable for sealing the glued edge of multiple boxes simultaneously.

The simple machine, which cost $30 to assemble, saved the company $10,000, Frick, 41, said.

"Wherever I see a need, an application, I try to fill it," Luu said. He now holds six patents, including a process that changes the characteristics of Styrofoam packaging, making it flexible and uncrackable.

While money is important, it comes second to the enjoyment of creation, Luu said. "He came here with nothing," added Frick. "He is the classic immigrant success story. He never sees an obstacle. He sees nothing but opportunity."

Staff Writer Sue Dremann can be e-mailed at sdremann@paweekly.com.

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