Logistics 4.0 & packaging: optimise your costs and improve your customer experience

Logistics 4.0, which is based on the use of new technologies (such as WMS, ERP, robotics, blockchain, or delivery traceability solutions) promises great improvements to your logistics strategy.

These technologies, whether emerging or well established in practice, have one and the same objective: beyond the reliability, flexibility and quality of delivery that they promise, it is indeed on the customer experience that they act.

Itis in this context of logistics 4.0 that packaging has a key role to play, and all the more so after 2020, a year that will require real responsiveness from transport and logistics managers and other supply chain managers: the Covid-19 crisis, the explosion of e-commerce and multi-channel, and the demand for increasingly innovative and rapid deliveries..

Discover here the keys to integrating a packaging strategy into a logistics 4.0, to gain in productivity, flexibility and profitability in your supply chain.

If you want to discover them on video, check out the replay of the webinar presented by Henri Serre, Key Account Sales Manager at RAJA, during the Permanent Expo online event:

How to improve customer experience and satisfaction

It’s a fact: Logistics 4.0 is significantly improving your customer experience, not only by allowing you to better organise your logistics in omnichannel mode, but also by improving the delivery experience of your customers. Home delivery is no longer the only solution: click&collect, Drive or left-luggage offices are becoming alternatives that enrich your customers’ experience of delivery

So how does packaging contribute to these improvements in logistics 4.0?

Ensuring that your products arrive intact

That’s the main challenge for your packaging: to protect your goods, so that they arrive in good condition.

To do this, your packaging chain must incorporate..

• The right packaging for your products, in terms of size and protection needs. At RAJA, we offer more than 1,200 box and carton sizes to find the right packaging for your business.
• Efficient cushioning methods: By preventing your goods from moving freely in the packaging, or from colliding with each other, cushioning protects your goods. Bubble wrap or plastic cushioning particles are no longer the only solutions: think of kraft paper or air cushions.

Deliver your parcels on the first delivery round

The tracking technologies offered by Logistics 4.0 promise your customers fast and efficient deliveries – what if your packaging did too?

If your products allow it, postal packaging can help you get your parcels into a standard letterbox on the first delivery round, without any contact. Available in several formats, they can be adapted to your needs: postal cases, extra-flat boxes, padded pockets, etc

Improve your returns

Did you know that 63% of consumers believe that the e-retailer is responsible for the organisation of order returns? With the development of logistics 4.0, if it is possible to facilitate the follow-up of customer returns, packaging can help you go further.

So, in addition to improving your order return policy and displaying your return conditions on your e-commerce site, choose the right packaging to facilitate these returns. Think in particular about return packaging: with its two self-adhesive strips (one for the outward journey and one for the return), it signals to your customers that you are thinking of everything to help them return their products!

Adapt your packaging to omnichannel logistics

Logistics 4.0 gives you the possibility to follow your omnichannel logistics in detail… Don’t worry: your packaging will accompany you in the development of your different channels!

Take care to choose packaging for your different delivery methods, and in particular..

• Home delivery
• Click & collect and drive-through, such as packaging with handles or edges for easier transport
• Take-away, which is becoming more and more popular

And don’t forget toorganise your storage according to your different channels, by getting the right equipment: solid shelving, labels to organise your warehouse properly, or different coloured spout bins.

How to limit the environmental impact of your logistics centre

With logistics 4.0, your customers expect you to deliver faster and more efficiently… But they also expect your brand to be ecologically responsible! According to a ProCarton study, more than one in two European consumers want to buy products packaged in environmentally friendly packaging.

So how can you make your packaging chain more virtuous for the planet, without cutting back on the protection of your products?

The 5Rs method is ideal for this purpose, as it proposes 5 words beginning with the letter R to..

• Reduce the weight and volume of packaging
• Reuse packaging, especially in your internal logistics, but also via order returns
• Replace your existing solutions with eco-responsible packaging
• Renew, by using products made from renewable or recyclable materials
• Recycle, by making end customers actors in the recycling of packaging

For example, you can find alternatives to petro-sourced plastic packaging by opting for kraft paper adhesive, recycled plastic bubble wrap, or kraft paper as cushioning material.

And to find out all about the 5Rs method and the various eco-responsible packaging solutions available to you, consult the dedicated guide!

How to make your logistics 4.0 more profitable

Thanks to Logistics 4.0, you can identify ways of optimising your order preparation chain, and your flow, stock and dispatch management. In short, these technologies help you to achieve optimum profitability for your logistics centre

And here again, your packaging chain can increase the financial performance of your division.

Work on the weight-volume of your packaging

If you send your parcels by express or internationally, you’ve probably already heard about weight-volume billing, which can quickly drive up your transport budgets if you don’t optimise your packaging strategy!

To reduce your weight-volume shipments, consider..

• Choose crates and boxes that are as close as possible to your goods
• Replace your cartons with pockets whenever possible
• Opting for variable height boxes, which allow you to regulate the volume of the packaging with a simple cutter stroke

And to dig deeper into the subject, check out our guide on volumetric weight, full of concrete advice to optimise your transport costs.

Optimising the productivity of your order picking chain

Packaging has many virtues… including helping your logistics teams to speed up the rate of dispatch. And there’s no denying that with the explosion of e-commerce and multi-channel, your packaging chain needs optimum productivity more than ever.

So here are some packaging tips to help you gain productivity in your order picking:

• The instant crate, which can be assembled 2.5 times faster than a standard crate)
• Boxes with adhesive closure, to limit the use of adhesive
• Packaging with integrated wedging, to save time on packing
• Bubble bags with adhesive closurein addition to the above, the company has developed a number of new packaging solutions, which save the need to wrap goods in bubble wrap and use tape to seal the package

Automate your packaging line

With the rise of warehouse management systems and robotics, new packaging solutions are being added to the order preparation chain. Their aim is to save time during the packing phase and therefore improve your overall costs.

You can think of equipping yourself with..

• Wedging machines: from paper wedging to air cushioning, your method can potentially be automated
• Banding or strapping machines, to secure your pallets
• Conveyors, to limit your operators’ movements in the warehouse

How to improve the working conditions of your operators

While the technologies inherent in Logistics 4.0 are real opportunities to optimise your current logistics process, they can also significantly increase the pressure on your operators. Aiming for more performance, more profitability, yes… but not at the cost of the well-being at work in your logistics platform!

So how can packaging help you optimise your operators’ working conditions and reduce the social risks associated with their jobs?

Optimise your packing station

Designing your packing station properly means thinking about it ergonomically, to help operators pack safely, with the least possible effort.

So think about reviewing your current packing station, so that it is adapted to..

• The types of products you pack, particularly in terms of weight and size
• Your productivity, and the speed of your packaging line
• The space available in your warehouse

In particular, make sure that this station helps your order pickers to optimise packaging management, and that they have all the tools they use frequently at hand.

To design your own customised packing station, feel free to try out the RAJA configurator.

Choose anti-MSD solutions

MSDs, or Musculoskeletal Disorders, represent a considerable risk on a packaging line, which is why you need to find a suitable technical solution for each potential MSD risk.

In particular, you can use..

• Anti-fatigue matsto reduce the strain of standing workstations
• High chairs for workshopsto allow rest time for your operators in stationary position
• Pallet trucksto limit the risks associated with handling these packages
• Constant level trolleysto limit the risks associated with handling these packages , whose height adapts to the weight of the loads placed on them during the picking phase

So, are you ready to innovate by combining your logistics 4.0 strategy with a strong packaging strategy? If so, you’re well equipped to move towards a better customer experience, while improving the profitability and productivity of your logistics operations.