your packaging
experts
our Vision
Meeting the packaging, janitorial, facilities, and equipment needs of our customers, while offering cost effective, educational, and sustainable solutions with top quality local service.
our serVices
Custom
Packaging
Package
Design
Vendor Managed Inventory
Custom Hold
for Release
Profit
Enhancement
Tool
Repair
Equipment
Repair
Equipment
Parts
Equipment
Installation
Preventative
Maintenance
our history
George Zerby founded Strapping and Seals Incorporated in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1965 to provide solutions for an ever-changing packaging market. Steel strapping became a popular packaging method for railroad shippers, asphalt shingle manufacturers, construction workers, and textile mill workers because it provided 600lb of secure holding power for shipments. Strapping reduced container costs, freight costs, damage costs, and pilfering costs.
1970
Dan Kunes, realizing this new packaging trend, purchased S&S Incorporated. Dan spent his lunch hour at the shipping docks and rail yards, showing how easy it was to secure shipments with strapping and handheld tools. “Relationships are the bedrock of selling,” Dan would say. By going out, working with end users, and listening to their needs, he found solutions to their problems. Automation arrived with carton erectors, case sealers, and stretch wrappers. These machines would become the focus for decades to come.
1980
S&S installed a fully integrated online computer system, enabling expanded operations in Toledo, Youngstown, Akron, and Canton, with satellite warehouses to ensure 24-hour delivery for customers. Dan presented at the Great Lakes Industrial Show and rolled out the red carpet to showcase new automation to customers. He launched the first packaging newsletter, “The Wrap,” to keep customers at the forefront of the latest packaging innovations.
1990
In the 90s, S&S joined the Independent Packaging Distributors (IDS) and Afflink to bring together businesses that operated similarly. This allowed business owners to share ideas and resources to keep growing their businesses. Bi-annual meetings helped grow vendor-managed inventory programs, hold-for-release programs for custom inventory, and equipment maintenance programs.
2000
S&S continued expansion in the 2000s with a patent on the Flower Forwarder, one of the first disposal pallet racking systems for one-way shipping. This newly designed rack allowed growers to ship plants and flowers on a rack ready for display. This eliminated the need for growers to use metal carts for shipping. Growers no longer had to go back to retailers to retrieve their carts after use.
2016
The company’s direction continued when Paul Nared and Gary Krupa purchased S&S Incorporated from the Kunes family. In the next couple of years, the Pandemic shocked the United States. S&S Incorporated remained an essential company serving our customers. Together, we developed custom solutions to help them with the ever-changing environment and labor shortages.