Today, the focus in all industries is to ensure a sustainable supply chain (continuous improvement process) with basic considerations to improve environmental and social impacts. This is achieved by managing raw materials, products and services at all stages of the chain. Material handling equipment (MHE) and how it is used is playing an increasingly important role in the quest for sustainability, and therefore events at MHE can have a fundamental impact on all areas of the supply chain.
The greatest influence in the field of MHE over the past decade has been an increase in the rate of introduction of fleets with return transit packaging (RTP) in all areas of production, engineering, food production and retail. Wooden pallets and crates, along with their plastic and metal counterparts, are all RTP products, although some of them are more suitable for sustainable supply chain ethics than others.
In Europe, more sophisticated RTP systems were first developed on a large scale by the automotive industry almost 20 years ago, with Japan's increasing influence on JIT production, production and supply technologies. At first, automotive RTP solutions were mainly basic engineering cargo platforms (pallet boxes and steel fixed grids or racks) on which the main packaging was placed containing several “loose packaged” parts and components. Although the load carriers were considered RTP, the primary packaging was often one-time plastic or carton.
With the introduction of JIT production technologies, as well as an increase in the number of components that were painted and finished before being sent to the factory, the requirements for a more disciplined approach to production planning and the production and processing of parts on the line side dictated the transition to a more specialized component and protective surface MHE. This, in turn, was eliminated in the primary packaging, replaced by fixed inserts and dividers (known as dunnage), holding the component and parts in an external load container, and therefore RTP systems were born.
Other engineering and manufacturing industries followed a similar development of RTP systems compared to automotive, but the use of more standard RTP types is widely used in all sectors, as mentioned earlier.
The initial rationale for the use of RTP was mainly due to the costs based on the ratio of RTP units' visits in their life expectancy to the cost of capital investments and one-time packaging costs. In the food, medical and pharmaceutical sectors, the disk was also aimed at eliminating wood, cardboard and other fibrous materials in the production areas primarily for hygienic purposes.
Until recently, the sustainability of supply chain and packaging waste legislation was a key business factor in the development of RTP systems and advanced RTP fleet management practices. In addition to capital investments, other expenses include repair and maintenance, equipment loss, stockpiling and extension of the tenure and cycle time, equipment life and the flexibility of the chosen project to adapt to the development and changing requirements of the supply chain. However, the operational process of the RTP fleet and, therefore, costs can be managed by efficient management systems using RFID / barcode or batch methods integrated into existing distribution and traffic systems. As the life span of RTP equipment is extended through effective management, it also serves to increase resilience and further reduce the cost of packing per trip.
Retailer-ready retail sector * packaging involves using RTP in a retail store display, which negates the need to decant the product and eliminate disposable packaging while reducing processing costs. Common examples of this are plastic soft drink bottles that are displayed in a store and collected by a consumer of plastic molded robots that are often mounted on wheeled dolls, as well as reusable vacuum trays that are visible on the shelves of trays that hold yogurt pots and similar products. .
RTP development in all sectors continues to increase longevity, reduce process waste and cost and minimize carbon emissions by reducing pallet miles. ”
Maximizing longevity through design is critical, so it not only allows the RTP division to cover a multitude of tasks in the supply chain, but also ensures its longevity, maximizing return on investment and reducing environmental impact by reducing the need for replacement production. The key is the development of universal RTP blocks with a replaceable stub to fit different products and components. At the end of the product or product life cycle, the RTP can be repaired and the new Dunnage installed according to the new components. These RTP modules have an extended life potential, possibly two or three product models (from eight to 15 years in the automotive industry), whereas in the past many RTP Units have been disposed of after one production period.
To minimize transport and logistics requirements, RTP design goals often represent the maximum product density for product delivery, as well as optimal investment or folding for the return trip when empty. In many cases, RTP fleets are combined and distributed among users in the same supply chain to reduce the total amount required. For example, Ford Europe uses a fleet of collapsible plastic containers on pallets, called FLCs, which are not a specific component and are distributed among suppliers throughout Europe. They also use the same FLC design for the selected components and gradually apply the use of flexible textile dunnage systems to individually protect the components and also maximize the decomposition of the components and density on the FLC, which are usually folded into two tall vehicles during construction. After the components are decanted, the FLC units fold down and the textile shank stays in place and fold six feet in the vehicle to return to the component supplier.
One of the specific MHE design initiatives is the Back Haul trolley (BHT), presented as a method for car OEMs, to increase and optimize the use of their vehicles-rail vehicles (RVT) currently used for outbound delivery of finished cars . The BHT is a trolley adapted for installation on an RVT and the transfer of automotive FLCs and fixed elements loaded with components into automotive OEM factories. This introduces cost savings to the incoming parts of the logistics and supply chain operations, as well as reduces vehicle emissions, and also uses other empty rail cars that are already part of the OEM plant.
The advantages of RTP are further enhanced, reducing the need for loader operation in the areas of production and processing, since many RTP systems are either equipped with wheels or can be transported on dolls. This allows you to link RTP devices and ride in “trains” using tow trucks, allowing you to handle more units per trip than using a forklift truck to move individual load-carrying loads around the plant. RTP in many cases can be manually moved by operators to a position on the production line or in the stacking area. The use of conveyor systems and roller racks to move small RTP blocks, such as sweepstakes and trays, around manufacturing, storage and postal sites is increasing. This reduction in forklift requirements also has health and safety benefits, reduced forklifts and pedestrian accidents, and environmental improvements in reducing forklift emissions.
This overview of MHE trends and developments, especially in the use of RTP, demonstrates that RTP systems are focused on common supply chain initiatives and cost savings that provide environmental benefits by reducing vehicle and travel requirements. This is a complex, multifaceted and fast-moving sector with new initiatives that are constantly entering the market.
Either adopting RTP for the first time, or really striving to improve the current use of RTP and initiatives can be a daunting task. Investing, from the start, material handling consultants for analyzing, planning, developing and implementing your MHE strategy will maximize the capabilities and benefits of your MHE systems and processes to support your supply chain sustainability requirements.
