How does tracking containers help green our supply chains?
Drew Merrill
How does tracking reusable containers (as opposed to just the contents) help green our supply chains?
Package tracking technology is by no means a new concept, however many companies don’t have a tracking solution, and several of those that do, don’t use them effectively.
The result? Our first thought is typically container loss or container damage without any means to assign accountability. But what about the environmental impact?
Improved container visibility through tracking avoids unnecessary transportation (and gas emissions) through planned routing and cube optimization of the trailers. A well managed fleet of containers will allow a company to reduce their safety stock of expendable packaging, a drain on natural resources. If utilization and container velocity are improved through tracking, you could argue that less containers are needed in the system.
These are just a few, but what other impacts could tracking solutions have on businesses and the environment?
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Where has the ROI gone?!
Nefabulous
You've nailed it in my opinion
"Our first thought is typically container loss"
Two things MUST be considered when moving to a returnable packaging solutions.
1. Investment required (pay-off period over the projects length)
2. Environmental impact
If you lose track of the packaging in the system your investment/pay-off time dwindles quite quickly... And at times, returnable packaging when 'lost' could have a larger impact on the environment than a one-way solution considering these containers are built for longevity/re-use not for disposal. So you're actually also leading into #2 (environment).
Maybe this link will help - http://www.nefab.com/Packaging_Information_Advantages_Why_Returnables.aspx
Protect your investment
Drew Merrill
Agreed. If you flood an open supply chain (as opposed to a closed loop) with reusable packaging for the first time without some type of returnable recovery tracking system, you can almost guarantee a high loss %. Let's face it.... end-users that are used to disposing of expendable packaging require training and accountability to ensure they do not treat the reusable packaging as a throw-away.
A properly implemented tracking system is the perfect insurance to avoid this kind of issue.
Your referenced link put it perfectly....
"Because returnable packaging is relatively expensive, it´s important that they don't get lost in the return system. A loss rate of 10% losses per trip will give the result of complete system loss in just 10 cycles (10% loss x 10 cycles results in 100% loss). "
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