Return Transit Systems: Efficiency all the Way

Against the background of globally networked manufacturing sites and intermodal logistics concepts, smart logistics promise additional added value. How efficient distribution systems are made possible and the role of RFID.

19/10/05 In the age of global exchange of goods, logistics are as synonymous with cost cutting as ever. Against the background of globally networked manufacturing sites (not only customary in the automotive OEM sector or the computer industry) and intermodal logistics concepts, smart logistics promise additional added value. The new Eastern European EU member states also make higher demands on logistic efficiency. Efficient warehousing and distribution require a more holistic approach to logistics processes, all the more as cost saving potentials are increasingly sought through outsourcing these services.

In many industrial sectors, such as the automotive and electrical industries, efficient distribution is hardly conceivable without the use of sophisticated return systems. This refers to both the continental and inter-continental distribution of components, assemblies and modules. A large chunk of these assemblies are imported from low-wage countries over long distances since the comparatively inexpensive production facilities compensate for the higher transport costs. The vast distances to overcome and frequent lack of fully developed transport routes and infrastructure also calls for a high impact-resistance and durability of the systems used.

Especially the return carrier systems used in the automotive industry—and here stacking racks in particular—are characterised by an enormously wide variety of internal layouts designed to guarantee the fastening and protection of assemblies and components. In this segment the container manufacturers will once again be showcasing numerous creative solutions for a multitude of bought-in components at interpack 2005 in Düsseldorf from 21 to 27 April.

interpack is also expected to see innovations in the area of more or less universal large load carriers. The innovations will also cover more efficient schemes for returning empties - not forgetting highly sophisticated designs for improved volume reduction. The latter is achieved by collapsing or folding the empty containers. Container design is also increasingly taking into consideration users’ requirements for fast and easy handling at automobile assembly plants – not only with respect to filling, but also in terms of emptying at the client’s facility. The same applies to container use in the electrical engineering industry.

As in years past, the foremost trend will be towards designing containers as structural and protective envelopes to serve the most versatile and universal purposes as standard containers. However, to ensure a tight fit, safe fastening and padding that adapts to the contours of even complex shaped assemblies, product-specific inserts are needed. In many cases only the use of such highly efficient, largely standardised large load carriers has allowed firms to build up a viable inventory of return transit containers. Concerning the more universal-purpose, large-load plastic carriers, solutions for the automotive OEM industries are also expected to comply with the requirements laid down by the sector-specific Galia or Odette standards. Apart from the basic dimensional, stability and ergonomic requirements, many other demands including cleaning specifications have gone into the development of these containers.

The suppliers of transport containers are increasingly becoming system suppliers who are expected to not only supply the load-bearing box but also, and in particular, its special, product-specific inner packaging. Here, container suppliers invest great R&D competence and a considerable amount of creativity into ensuring a perfect coupling between products and containers.

The interpack 2005 will therefore focus on a wide choice of customised stacking trays and inserts making full use of the extremely far-reaching forming options of such manufacturing processes as deep drawing of plastics in twin-sheet technology, higher density EPP foaming and injection moulding. More and more of this inner packaging will be designed as workpiece carriers for fully automatic handling that take all options for in-house material handling into account. In the majority of cases, the introduction of advanced return packaging systems must be viewed in the context of automation efforts in the areas of palletising and picking, for example. In this respect, the availability of ever more affordable camera systems impacts the machine technology employed in a favourable way.

Another positive effect of today’s returnable small and large transport containers, predominantly made of thermoplastic plastics, is that they generally boast outstanding recycling properties and can therefore be recycled even after prolonged usage.

Some of these plastic transport containers only reveal their innovative potential in detail when user companies have made high demands on the ergonomic design with a view to simple and careful loading and unloading processes. Worth mentioning here by way of an example are foldable large-load carriers with lids separated in halves that combine efficient workpiece removal with a small footprint at the assembly line.

The latest container designs also increasingly take occupational safety concerns of manufacturing companies into consideration. They try to avoid injuries at the workplace by focusing on features such as anti-squash protection and the use of gas pressure springs for stacking racks.

Although returnable large-load carriers are primarily made of plastics while stacking racks are usually made of metals, wooden containers have still not lost any of their appeal. As in previous years, several innovations in this area need to be presented. Thanks to the use of plywood and OSB boards in conjunction with sophisticated hinge and jointing techniques, vendors can offer high-performance return containers which can now also be sizeably reduced in volume. Just like with plastic containers, users can also chose from forward-looking solutions for product-driven inserts to ensure a snug fit and reliable fastening of products.

Once again, innovations in the area of flat-bed carriers will be on display. Here, innovative solutions featuring alternative materials meet with strong interest not least because of the restrictive import regulations for solid wood packaging used in global transit operations. Numerous interesting developments for plastic pallets – and from recycled plastics, in particular, can be anticipated here. Due to their lightweight construction based on comparatively low-cost materials and their ever improved engineering and design, these plastic pallets clearly gain importance as export pallets for both returnable and non-returnable uses. Above and beyond this, they put this abundantly available material available to very meaningful use.

Remarkable innovations in flat pallets have taken place where producers have managed to design skid pallets in such a way that they can be stacked and nested when empty, thereby reducing required storage space substantially.

One of the buzzwords for returnable transport containers attracting attention at the trade fair will again be identification technology. In today’s logistics state-of-the-art communication solutions—traffic data capture, fleet management systems, forwarding software, tour planning systems, GPS and navigation systems, vehicle communication, on-board computers, mobile communication, goods tracking and identification systems, shipment tracing and supply-chain software, etc.—have risen to paramount importance. With a view to packaging logistics, special mention must be made of the auto-ID technologies. Especially RFID—short for radio-frequency identification technology i.e. the use of transponders—is the “talk of the town” in many areas. It is true that modern-age logistics could not do without the proven technology of barcode labels but the limitations of this technology become particularly manifested when using returnable packaging, be they containers or flat pallets. Barcode-based identification always requires a visual contact between the label and the barcode reader. Furthermore, the barcode labels have to comply with the highest requirements in terms of resistance to the effects of aggressive container cleaning procedures. The use of modern transponder systems can cope with some of these barcode-induced problems and simultaneously provide attractive add-on functions for supply chain management.

Especially when high-quality return packaging is handled in pool systems, the lower prices of barcode labels compared to transponders are of secondary importance considering that reliable identification and tracking of return transport packaging is key for settling the deposits in pool systems. The outstanding performance characteristics of RFID technology for return transport containers no doubt, lies in the readability without a sight line; but transponders are also capable of identifying several containers in one reading process, which works not only with filled containers but also when containers are re-accepted as empties.

In many areas, RFID technology helps to control and optimise process logistics and manufacturing applications. But the use in returnable packaging cycles (tracking and tracing in pool systems) seems to be particularly attractive considering the lower pro-rata costs of transponders compared to the return container price. The trade fair is expected to present requirement-driven identification systems that ensure higher transparency and operational excellence in the supply chain management of returnable transit packaging. Although there are indications that RFID labels will not replace barcodes completely and that both technologies will co-exist, this new technology for tracking and tracing products across all stages of the supply chain, from the producer to the recipient, will prevail. In addition to the current transponder installations in high-quality plastic flat pallets, further applications will be on show.