Packaging Logistics
Packaging is recognised to have a significant impact on the efficiency of logistical systems (Twede 1992, Ebeling 1990). However, logistical packaging costs are often not considered or measured by packaging designers (Twede, 1992), nor by logistics designers.
The grocery industry is a major user of different types of packaging and only in Sweden it means around 1000 million retail packs each year.
Packaging handling has a strong impact on the overall logistical cost of a grocery chain. ICA, Sweden’s largest grocery retail chains, claims that 75% percent of their total handling time in their retail chain occurs in the store and that is mainly due to packaging handling.
DULOG (The Development and Logistics group of the Wholesale and Retail Trade in Sweden) shows in a Swedish study 1996 that 16,2 % of the price of a product is used by the retailer to cover costs for selling and handling the products. Over 62% of this amount are used to pay for activities that are related to the handling of the package in the store.
According to a DULOG study the cost of handling the packages through the retail distribution centre (RDC) to the store shelf is the same as the cost for the retail packaging (about 0,6 Euro in average).
The facts above imply that there is a potential of efficiency improvements in the grocery supply chain through the integration and development of the systems of Packaging and Logistics. They also indicate the need for a better understanding of packaging logistics, new packaging concepts and solutions that facilitate a more efficient handling through the whole distribution chain and particularly in its end, where handling operations dominate.
In order to develop such concepts, there is a need to implement proper tools methods and techniques early in the product development secure the consideration of packaging and logistical aspects in the whole grocery supply chain.
The objectives of our research are to
· identify parameters for efficient transport and distribution systems and to develop models for how to handle the aspect when purchasing transport services.
· develop packaging logistics systems, that meet consumer needs
Look at the presentations and lists of some publications in this area from
Gunilla Jönson
Mazen Saghir
References
Ebeling, C.W (1990), Integrated Packaging Systems for Transportation and Distribution, Marcel Dekker, New York
Twede, D (1992), The process of logistical packaging innovation, Journal of Business Logistics, vol. 13, No. 1, pp. 69-94.