With 148 years of history, Greif is a global leader in industrial packaging solutions, built on a foundation of innovation, reliability, and strong customer partnerships. With a solid presence across Latin America and around the world, Greif has long believed that the most meaningful innovations do not start in laboratories or trend reports — they start with listening to customers.
The Knock Down Drum (KDD) is a clear example of this philosophy in action. This innovation was not created because the market was asking for “something new,” but because customers face very real operational challenges that conventional steel drums cannot solve.
In many cases, customer operations require steel drums to be supplied across long distances, sometimes through regions with limited or precarious road infrastructure, and often to industrialized island markets where access depends almost entirely on maritime transportation. Traditional fully assembled 200-liter drums create inefficiencies across transportation, storage, and handling. Shipping empty drums occupies excessive space, increases freight costs, and reduces supply chain flexibility, especially when serving remote locations or islands of strategic importance in regions such as Central America.
Rather than requesting a standard product from a catalog, customers ask a more powerful question: Is there a better way?
That question becomes the starting point of a collaborative development journey.
Instead of offering an off-the-shelf alternative, Greif teams work closely with customers to deeply understand their operations — how and where drums are filled, warehousing and transportation constraints, the realities of road and maritime logistics, on-site assembly capabilities, and strict requirements related to safety, quality, and performance. This process reveals a fundamental insight: customers do not need drums delivered fully assembled; they need drums delivered efficiently, regardless of distance or logistical complexity.
With this understanding, Greif engineers, operations teams, and commercial partners reimagine the steel drum itself. The result is the Knock Down Drum (KDD) — a steel drum solution designed to be shipped in a collapsed, space-efficient format and assembled closer to the point of use, without compromising performance.
The KDD system is built around two integrated stages. First, drum kits are produced at Greif manufacturing facilities. Drum bodies are manufactured and collapsed at the Greif plant, dramatically reducing the volume required for road and ocean transportation. The drums are prepared as knock-down kits, consisting of the collapsed body, lid, bottom, and closure systems, all produced under Greif’s strict quality standards. This configuration ensures maximum logistical efficiency while maintaining full product integrity.
Once the kits arrive at the customer’s warehouse — whether on the mainland or on an island destination — the second stage begins. Greif installs a dedicated machinery system that expands and completes the drum manufacturing process on site. This allows drums to be assembled according to local demand, providing flexibility, improved inventory control, and supply reliability even in locations with limited infrastructure or complex supply routes.
The benefits for customers are immediate and measurable. A standard 40-foot container, which typically carries 280 to 350 conventional drums, can transport 1,500 to 1,800 collapsed KDD drums — up to six times more drums per shipment. In warehousing, a pallet that normally holds only four conventional drums can accommodate around 100 KDD drums, delivering a space optimization of more than 2,400%. This translates into significant freight cost reductions, dramatic space optimization, reduced warehouse footprint, and a more resilient and responsive supply chain.
More than a product, the Knock Down Drum represents the outcome of a true partnership. Its development reflects Greif’s willingness to challenge traditional assumptions, invest in customer-driven innovation, and bring cross-functional teams together around real-world operational needs. What begins as a tailored solution for specific logistical challenges evolves into a scalable system that now supports customers across diverse regions and supply environments, without losing its customer-first DNA.
The story of the KDD reinforces a simple truth: the most impactful innovations are born from listening, collaboration, and decisive action. At Greif, innovation is not about inventing for the sake of invention — it is about helping customers operate better, smarter, and more sustainably. The Knock Down Drum stands as a testament to that philosophy and to what is possible when customer challenges lead the way.
Interested in learning how the Greif Knock Down Drum (KDD) can transform your logistics operation? Contact the Greif Sales team to learn more about this innovative solution.