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Three customers, three loops.
We picked these three because they each represent a different kind of relationship: a single big customer, a co-op of small ones, and a seasonal heavy-use case.
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Regional brewery — wort transfer at scale
120 totes, three years, two reconditioning cycles per year. Saved $48k in packaging and 6.4 tCOâ‚‚e.
Read →Central Ohio soap co-op — food-grade fleet
30 rebottled totes shared across eleven small soap makers. Quarterly wash + re-cert from us.
Read →Geauga County, OH maple producer — sap collection
Built out a five-tote vacuum collection rig over two seasons. Switched to stainless on the concentrate side.
Read →Why we publish case studies
Most B2B case studies are sales tools. Ours are more like operating notes — what actually happened, what worked, what didn't. We publish them because:
- Customers considering us want to see outcomes, not promises.
- Specific case patterns are more useful than abstract claims.
- Public case studies hold us accountable; we can't quietly retreat from claims if they're written down.
Each customer reviewed and approved their case study before publication. Numbers are accurate; we don't round up or aspire.
Common engagement patterns
Beyond the three case studies above, here are the patterns we see most often. If you're considering working with us and want to know "what would my engagement look like" — these are the templates.
One-time buy
Most common. Customer needs N totes for a project; we sell, deliver, done. Average size: 5-30 totes. Engagement length: 1-2 weeks.
One-time buy + ongoing buy-back
Customer buys reconditioned totes, fills them, eventually has empties to sell back. We pick up the empties, sometimes recondition them as part of an exchange. Engagement length: ongoing, low-touch.
Fleet rotation contract
Customer maintains a fleet of N totes that cycles through wash + re-cert with us quarterly. Used by mid-sized brewers, soap-makers, ag-chemical distributors. Engagement length: years.
Pooled co-op model
Multiple small customers share a co-op fleet that we manage. Used by soap collectives, brewery alliances, maker co-ops. Engagement length: years; we're the de-facto fleet manager.
Recycling-only partnership
Generator customer (chemical distributor, large industrial) sends end-of-life totes to our granulator. No buy-back, no purchase — just a recurring sustainability service. Engagement length: ongoing.
Fab-only project
Customer brings or sources totes; we modify them for a custom application. One-time or recurring. Engagement length: weeks for one-off, ongoing for production.
References on request
If you're evaluating us for a larger engagement and want to talk to a current customer, email hello@ibccolumbus.com — we'll connect you with a customer in a similar industry. Most are happy to take a call from a prospective peer.
Read next
- → All services
- → Our story
- → Why the co-op model works