The perfect match for a demanding supply chain
To achieve cost savings, you must look at the whole picture. This is what we do at Billerud. We helped a global apparel brand owner to cut supply chain costs and transports substantially, by completely redesigning their transport packaging portfolio. In addition to reducing costs, the company also increased its sustainability performance.
Exceptional savings with the right transport packaging
Challenge
Our customer produces millions of garments annually in Asia, for transport mainly to European and American markets. This requires many sea freight containers. The company’s packaging design was not optimised, which led to poor utilisation of container space. Even though the double-walled cartons were heavy, the company also incurred unnecessary product waste, due to cartons of poor quality.
Solution
Billerud’s technical team developed a new 3-carton system that saved transport volume by cubing out a 40-foot container to 98 percent. The new material was a high quality single-wall material which could be reused outbound to retail stores in addition to reducing packaging weight. Furthermore, the design was optimised for automated handling at the distribution centre. Not only does Billerud supply the packaging, but we also trained the OEM factory’s personnel to secure successful implementation of the new packaging system.
Result
The customer benefited from exceptional operational savings. In total, an impressive $50 million – every year. Most of this related to savings in the supply chain, mainly from transport volumes. There were also substantial savings from packaging materials as well as from increased packaging reuse at the distribution centre. The system resulted in improved sustainability performance.