A model for packaging systems evaluation from a sustainability perspective in the automotive industry

Project time: 2012 – 2015

Budget: 5 428 002 SEK

Funding: FFI – Strategic Vehicle Research and Innovation

The first purpose of the project was to develop and test an evaluation model that, from a sustainability perspective, can facilitate the choice of packaging systems for material supply from component supplier to the assembly processes in the automotive industry. The model should consider economic and environmental impacts of packaging systems in a whole supply chain, and from a life cycle perspective. Based on data collected and operationalisation of the evaluation model in an analysis tool, the second purpose was to provide insights to the participating organisations for selecting packaging systems.
The development of the evaluation model included data collection, model development, and analysis tool development. The project was carried out in a collaborative manner between all involved organisations with Lund University as the cohesive link and responsible for the model and the analysis tool development. The model created has a general setup and structure, which are applied in the analysis tool. The data in the analysis tool are specific for each plant. The general model is prepared for adaptation to other than the three involved plants in this project.
A great deal of work was related to collecting and structuring data about costs and CO2 emissions related to transportation, materials handling, waste management, packaging material, warehouse management and administration. Data were collected from various sources and from observations. The level of detail of the data was decided in continues discussions with all organisations throughout the project.
The overall result of the project is an increased understanding of the impact of packaging on supply chain cost and CO2 emissions in the automotive industry. The project has developed a model, which provides a logic for identifying influential cost and CO2 factors for different packaging solutions in the materials supply. Understanding the cost and CO2 factors help in creating guidelines for packaging selection. The analysis tool can support decisions in various areas. It can analyse:
1. Total costs and CO2 emissions from a supply chain perspective for all components
2. Compare packaging alternatives (for instance, one-way or returnable packaging systems, or different packaging sizes)
3. Compare different supply chain structures (for instance, different production concepts, such as kitting, and with direct delivery in small boxes from the supplier or pallet delivery with repacking in smaller boxes at the plant)
4. The impact of five cost/CO2 variables and several contextual variables on the total cost/CO2 emissions
5. Grouped information (suppliers, type of packaging, regions, etc.) to investigate the economic and environmental impacts of making a change in packaging for the grouped item (e.g. what would be the economic and environmental impacts of changing so that one supplier only uses one type of packaging for all their components)
The results of the project contribute to better informed decisions for new or modified packaging solutions that, in turn, reduce costs and the environmental impact of materials supply for the plants involved in the project. From an academic perspective, this has contributed to new knowledge in the area of packaging logistics, particularly regarding relationships between the cost and CO2 factors in the model, the effect of contextual factors when comparing one-way and returnable packaging, and an increased understanding of cost and CO2 effects of different packaging selection processes.
When discussing the resulting model and the developed analysis tool with staff at the participating companies, it became clear that no matter how accurate the data and the model are, it is crucial that the model is incorporated in relevant standard processes at the companies. Otherwise, it will not be used and the companies will not benefit from it.
The project has resulted in several practical implications. The analysis tool can be, and are currently, used in the daily business as decision support for new or modified packaging solutions. There is potential to implement and roll it out in other plants, but this requires some IT resources to include it in the central IT system. Further, as the model applies a holistic supply chain perspective, which is operationalised in the analysis tool, it can also provide new input to interorganisational strategic decisions regarding, for instance, sourcing and production. In the companies involved in this project the model and the analysis tool can support ongoing and planned projects, e.g. in a planned concept development for one-way packaging. All companies have many special packaging, which are handled in a different way than standard packaging. An extension of the model can help to provide guidelines and modularise the assortment.

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