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- IPS packaging audits are made-to-measure - 22/11/07
- Environmental packaging issues top of the tree for IPS - 22/11/07
IPS factors packaging into the air freight cost equation. 09/10/2007
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IPS clients operating in sectors such as the medical and scientific instruments fields, for example, look to air freight for its speed and convenience but are also increasingly concerned with the cost-to-consignment ratio.
As UK market leaders in the design and development of protective packaging systems in advanced foams and composites, IPS take a strategic marketing stance where the cost of air freight is factored into the viability of a client’s logistics’ operations.
To this end, IPS developed the “Clip Case”, to minimise packaging materials, to not only reduce packaging costs and lessen the environmental impact, but also to minimise volume and weight – two of the key factors in air freight charging structures.
The economics of air freight are highly complex and tariffs are dependent on a range of factors – not least of which is supply and demand. In some cases, for example, consignments from the UK to Europe can cost more than those destined for the ultra-busy routes to Singapore and Hong Kong.
There is, however, a major controllable element in the competitive viability of air transport which falls very much within the remit of IPS. This involves the concept of ‘freight density’ which is all about the scheduling of consignments on a finite number of flights with a finite amount of hold space. Again, this is tied in with packaging volume for many products and hence the need for minimising the size, amount and weight of packaging used.
Packing cases over 160cm in height, for example, can only be accommodated on the higher deck of the aircraft hold where competition for space is usually greater and therefore more costly. Given that most air freight is carried by passenger aircraft – simply because a major part of the cost is borne indirectly by passenger air fares – space is at a premium which therefore intensifies the issues of height, volume and weight.
IPS have addressed this problem with their innovative and lightweight heat-treated laminated Clip Cases which do away with the heavy and environmentally unacceptable aspects of softwood crates. Not only are the Clip Cases quick and easy to assemble; they can also be re-used time and again (in contrast to wooden crates which are usually once-only solutions).
IPS Clip Cases can be tailor-made to fit each consignment and, equally important, the company has developed a range of innovative protective foams which reduce the packaging volume and therefore the size of outer clip case required.
As IPS Managing Director, Andrew Laundy, says:
“The implications of this for air freight charges are self-evident: lower volume equals lower cost; lower volume also equals an increased likelihood of prompt carriage.
“As a major contribution to the modern concept of ‘Total Freight Management’”, Andrew continued,
“IPS Clip Cases provide clients with a cost-effective and all-encompassing solution.”
IPS packaging audits are made-to-measure.
As part of the company’s wider strategic remit, protective packaging specialists Interactive Packaging Solutions (IPS) are keen to engage with customers on improving all aspects of their transit packaging systems.
With over 30 years’ experience of providing a wide variety of companies with protective packaging solutions, in materials ranging from advanced protective foams to simple corrugated cardboard and composites, IPS are now UK market leaders in the design, development and supply of protective packaging.
This means the company is now well placed to advise customers across many industrial sectors and to provide practical long-term solutions, which add value to the total product handling process.
IPS packaging audits look at the effectiveness of current packaging activities and how these can be improved. Examples may include:
- Reconciling the sometimes contradictory aims of the protective and promotional aspects of packaging
- Resolving design issues with flexible in-house resources to reduce tooling andset-up costs, as well as improving lead times.
- Assessing the suitability of current packaging materials. To what extent are they:
- cost-effective, light in weight and attractive
- in appearance?
- Devising a manufacturing and distribution process that is environmentally friendly. IPS audits focus on the re-cyclability and re-usability of packaging materials, and how this impacts on a customer’s bottom line.
Commenting on the rationale behind IPS packaging systems audits, Managing Director Andrew Laundy points to the extent to which customers today, welcome discussions about the wider issues of packaging and how it affects both their own business and the environment:
“Our audits are very popular for several reasons,” says Andrew. “Customers like the idea of an objective, third-party opinion on what they’re doing and how they’re doing it.
“We look at the materials being used and whether they are achieving business objectives at a price that is acceptable to both the company’s management and to the environment.
“Sometimes,” Andrew continued, “it’s the small improvements we suggest that make the difference. For other customers, our ideas may prompt a complete re-think of everything they’re doing.
“In most cases, however, there’s always the reassurance that a company with the experience of IPS has given their packaging systems the once over.”
Environmental packaging issues top of the tree for IPS
As UK market leaders in the design and development of protective packaging in materials such as advanced foams, corrugated boards and composites, Wrexham-based Interactive Packaging Solutions (IPS) are sensitive to the wider issues associated with packaging.
This takes the company’s capabilities beyond the immediate requirements of packaging for product protection and presentation, important though these are. IPS is also concerned with the strategic issues of packaging which include factors such as logistics and the environment.
An example of this ‘consultancy in action’ can be seen in the heat-treated plyboard clip cases, which were tailor-made for UK manufacturer of medical and scientific instruments, Waters Ltd.
Supplied in a variety of sizes and incorporating a palletised design for easy transportation, the clip cases designed by IPS have provided Waters with a re-usable, flexible and cost-effective packaging solution which also addresses key environmental issues.
These include:
- The use of steel clips which hold the lightweight outer case panels in place. These can be unclipped to enable the entire case to be re-used. This contrasts with heavy traditional shipping cases, which are usually broken up to access the contents. The result is an unnecessary consumption of materials and a ‘once-only’ packaging approach.
- The use of laminated panels, which are heat-treated to kill pests typically found in untreated raw-wood packaging. These pests including the Asian long-horn beetle and Pine Wood Nematode – have spread across the world through wooden packaging materials, which has prompted many countries to introduce regulations to ban their use.
IPS recognises that the re-use and re-cycling of packaging materials is an important and irreversible trend, as Managing Director Andrew Laundy is keen to point out:
“Our company is committed to helping businesses meeting UK government targets for sustainable waste management,” says Andrew. “So as well as the wide range of environmental measures we can help put in place, IPS are also a registered re-cycler of both our own and other company’s packaging materials.”
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Interactive Packaging Solutions Ltd., Unit 3, Ash Road North, Wrexham Enterprise Park, Wrexham, LL13 9JT.
Company Registered in England No. 4310062 Telephone : 01978 661671, Fax : 01978 661681
E-mail: sales@ips-uk.net
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