COVER The UAE’s leading cash-intransit and cash management firm is responsible for 95% of the all the physical money that is transported around the country on a daily basis – finally it lifts the lid on the inner-working of this highly specialised logisti
Material handling specialists’ alternative to limited life packaging reduces packaging costs by up to 90% on a per-trip basis
Schoeller Allibert has been inventing, developing, designing and manufacturing Returnable Transit Packaging (RTP) for more than 60 years. Schoeller Allibert is a global leader in RTP, and had has been suppling innovative Returnable Transport Packaging solutions in Europe Asia and USA for ovet 50 years. Headquartered in the Netherlands with production on 3 continents and fully integrated R&D centres across Europe.
In the Middle East market, it’s worked with major retail and logistics players to eliminate the wastage caused by limited life packaging such as cardboard cartons and wooden pallets.
“In a typical supply chain scenario, a hypermarket will receive goods, for example fresh fruit, in a 10kg box from a local farm every day,” explains Andy Kelly, sales director, Middle East, Schoeller Allibert. “That box is then thrown away and often, locally, not recycled. Our alternative is a crate of the same size, costing approximately ten times more, but can be re-used hundreds of times.”
“There needs to be a ‘return-abliity’ to these boxes as there is a return freight cost, so we make them fold or nest inside one another to save space on return logistics and storage. They need to be washed – in this scenario – but then are ready to go again. In material cost, after return transport and washing, this can be up to 90% cheaper than the cardboard carton, per trip,” he adds.
Schoeller Allibert also produces foldable IBCs, which saves logistics companies up to 50% per trip, as most intermediate bulk containers are only used once at up to US $100 per unit. “We make a foldable alternative with an inner liner – a 1,000-litre bag-in-box which makes a returnable IBC,” says Kelly. “It is also more hygienic, stackable, and can be aseptically filled for improving product shelf life.”
Schoeller Allibert’s foldable IBCs were designed for supporting Heinz in the USA with transporting tomato paste by rail, but are now used in a huge variety of industries. One of which is the dairy business in Saudi Arabia, where Almarai uses the solution to cut its logistics costs.
Elsewhere in the Middle East, Schoeller Allibert’s solutions are saving retailers and manufacturers significant costs on the supply chain side of operations. “In the UAE for Landmark Group, we first introduced them to RTP – Returnable Transport Packaging – a few years ago, and the change
from cardboard cartons to a structured system reduced their supply chain labour by around 30%,” says Kelly. “Filling and emptying trailers reduced in time by around 80% due to the simplicity of a wheeled system compared with manual packing of differing sizes of carton.”
For Landmark’s new Distribution Centre in Dubai South, Schoeller Allibert custom designed two crates for them. One for internal use in the ASRS (Automated Storage and Retreival System) and another for distribution to their stores. Each has unique features adding substantial value for the client.
For Coca Cola, Schoeller Allibert has designed a new pallet, offering unrivalled durability, which can withstand the demands of the distribution chain caused by forklifts and by being dropped. It can rack up to 1,900kgs and is designed to seamlessly integrate with ASRS systems. The pallet offers the lowest total cost of ownership through its increased life span and high material quality. “They are produced in a range of colours with corporate branding and RFID chips for asset protection,” says Kelly.
Schoeller Allibert produces its designs in the region to the highest standards, bringing its European heritage, experience and quality, to the Middle East and beyond.