From the desk of Phillip Austin

Transcription

1 CHEP s unique view into supply chain logistics From the desk of Phillip Austin Welcome to the latest edition of Vantage online magazine, just one of the ways that CHEP seeks to connect with its valued customers. Around the time you receive this edition Brambles, the parent company of CHEP, will have announced its half yearly results, which will see continued growth and expansion of our pooling services businesses in more than 50 countries across the globe. Whilst we are proud of our heritage as one of a small number of Australian companies that have successfully become global businesses, we re more excited by the future in which we will combine our learnings and innovation from around the world with our rich heritage to deliver more effective and efficient supply chains for our Australian customers. In this edition, you will see a real focus on innovation, as we explore opportunities to improve retail supply chains, minimise administration to maximise the value of pooling, and introduce a new intercontinental product & service that can help meet the needs of many Australian importers. You can also read how CHEP is committing to independent research to see how we can play a role in tackling food waste, one of the greatest challenges in the real sustainability agenda of today and the future. Our approach to innovation rests on three simple principles: 1. Collaboration as highlighted in the articles, none of our innovations begin or end with us. They are jointly developed, enhanced and tested with our customers to meet and integrate their needs from each step in their supply chains. We also collaborate with a wide range of best of breed designers, researchers and suppliers to bring these collaborative ideas to life. 2. Culture innovation is a core value of our business. We have dedicated innovation professionals using structured processes to ideate and manage innovations and we source and celebrate EveryDay Ideas from across our business. Our people, serving your business in the field or on the phone, are motivated by and focused on discovering and delivering new solutions to meet your needs. 3. Connection our global footprint and learning culture means we can bring to our local market insights, trends and solutions from supply chains across the world. Beyond the individual connections with customers, we listen to and participate in industry forums across the world and here at home. In the next month we ll participate in initiatives of the Australian Logistics Council, the Australian Food & Grocery Council, and the Produce Marketing Association. We understand and value the connections we have developed, and our unique position in connecting your supply chain with thousands of others, every day. Finally, as our Intermediate Bulk Containers (IBC) customers are already aware, in January Brambles acquired the global operations of the CEVA (formerly TNT) Pallecon business. We are keenly aware that our customers have a wide range of choice in moving intermediate bulk products in their supply chains, and as we look to grow our pooling solutions within this market, we re excited at the depth and breadth of the product offer now available to customers of Pallecon and CHEP, and we re keen to accelerate the development and launch of new innovative offers to our customers. At CHEP, we re committed to setting new standards of leadership in equipment pooling, and we thank you for choosing CHEP. Phillip Austin President CHEP Australia & New Zealand In this issue BEVErAGE tray launch broadens retail ready range WOOLWOrTHS, CHEP work TOGETHEr to streamline processes INNOVATION underpins NEWTON OrCHArDS' quality result NEW solution improves ECONOMICS of regional flows STUDY to explore packaging s role in reducing food waste CHEP is a Brambles company 1

2 Beverage tray launch broadens retail ready range The launch of a new beverage tray in February 2013 means that beverage manufacturers and retailers from right across the supply chain can now take advantage of CHEP s reusable retail ready solutions. The new-look CHEP Retail Beverage Tray, designed to carry all variants of soft drink bottles L, 1.5L, 2.0L and 2.25L - opens up a reusable retail ready solution to the whole beverage supply chain for the first time. The new design complements the existing Multi-Purpose Beverage Tray which has been adopted by two major retailers and carries 1.25L soft drink and 2L juice bottles. The new tray provides an opportunity for a fully integrated supply chain approach to retailing carbonated soft drinks. Because it takes all variants of soft drink bottles from 1.25L, the new CHEP Retail Beverage Tray will enable even more beverage manufacturers to streamline their processes and increase efficiencies. CHEP Customer Programs Manager, Annette Arzoumanian The design innovation from Finland s K. Hartwall, took seven years to perfect and has been tested in collaboration with stakeholders across the beverage supply chain over the past 12 months. Like the existing tray, the new CHEP Retail Beverage Tray is modular to the plastic Display Pallet and the standard Australian timber pallet, with the ability to stack two or six columns of product respectively. When used together the trays and Display Pallet become a one-touch solution that can be packed on line by a manufacturer, shipped through the supply chain and wheeled onto the retail floor ready to be shopped immediately. CHEP Customer Programs Manager, Annette Arzoumanian, says, The new tray provides an opportunity for a fully integrated supply chain approach to retailing carbonated soft drinks. Because it takes all variants of soft drink bottles from 1.25L, the new CHEP Retail Beverage Tray will enable even more beverage manufacturers to streamline their processes and increase efficiencies, for example, the trays increase the number of units transported by up to 20 per cent per load and therefore reduce total truck movements. Retailers also stand to benefit from CHEP s new product offering. Diversifying the beverage tray range to cover all bottle variants provides all retailers the opportunity to help product stand out on the retail floor with this innovative point-of-sale look and improve sales, Ms Arzoumanian says. They can reap the benefits of a retail ready solution without having to handle perforated packaging and manage cardboard waste. CHEP s existing Multi-Purpose Beverage Tray has been recognised nationally for its value as a sustainable packaging solution 1 and the new CHEP Retail Beverage Tray offers the same opportunity to manufacturers and retailers to reduce their sustainability footprint, by reducing one-way packaging. Other benefits offered by both of CHEP s reusable retail ready solutions are: Efficiency gains in the supply chain through less handling The ability to merchandise two different products side by side on one Display Pallet A reduction of out of stock events Increased brand visibility The potential to improve retail presence and increase category/real estate share reduction in the use of one-way cardboard packaging If you would like more information about the CHEP Retail Beverage Tray, please contact Annette Arzoumanian on or Annette.Arzoumanian@chep.com. 1 The CHEP Multi-Purpose Beverage Tray was a finalist in the 2012 Banksia Awards and received Highly Commended in the NSW Government s 2012 Green Globe Awards CHEP is a Brambles company 2

3 Woolworths, CHEP work together to streamline processes When Woolworths Limited and CHEP Australia partnered on an initiative to identify equipment control process improvements, the outcomes stretched beyond the walls of any one store. Improvement opportunities spanned across the retailer, trading partners and could potentially benefit the wider FMCG sector. Quite simply, Woolworths realised that the key to more effective equipment control lay in identifying gaps in procedures and implementing best practice. The removal of PTAs was a big step forward in pallet administration. It has been well received by our trading partners. Woolworths National Unit Load Device Manager, Belinda Field Given the magnitude of Woolworths operations, CHEP Australia Process Improvement Specialist, Lesley Oppy, was invited to work with Woolworths National Unit Load Device (ULD) Manager Belinda Field to come up with a national solution. Lesley led the project, first conducting an audit of equipment control processes at 13 Woolworths grocery warehouse distribution centres nationally. The project aimed to embed best practice for the management of hire equipment, delivering loss mitigation initiatives and develop reports to assist with the ongoing monitoring of equipment control. The project focused on seven key areas: receiving, dispatch, salvage, transport, security, stores and the account reconciliation process. Belinda Field says, The project provided us with greater visibility over what we were doing in the ULD space throughout our network. The process review gave us the opportunity to see the best practice areas and where the opportunities for improvement were. From this we were able to make recommendations for both operational and business divisions to achieve effective equipment control. The recommendations included the removal of hard copy Pallet Transfer Authorities (PTAs) which has been universally well-received. Removing PTAs means that Woolworths trading partners now have greater control and visibility of their pallet flows. The sender can now raise a transfer docket to accompany a load, it is checked on receipt of the goods and given back to the driver. Senders no longer wait for a docket to be sent back to them before reconciling accounts. The process also saves costs by eliminating docket books. Belinda Field says, The removal of PTAs was a big step forward in pallet administration. Woolworths Belinda Field and CHEP s Lesley Oppy. It has been well received by our trading partners. It s a simpler process and our trading partners have more control. They are now able to raise the documentation and have it readily available for drivers. Woolworths has streamlined the process of delivering into distribution centres adopting one procedure for all sites. It means there s only one rule and it s beneficial for the sender. The third party logistics partners and transporters have said they d like to see it adopted across the entire retail sector. Lesley says, I took the approach of saying let s just make it simpler for the supplier. Now, every time you deliver into a Woolworths distribution centre, it s the same process. The decision to eliminate PTAs has taken the complication away. Standardisation is a hallmark of this initiative. Lesley documented and analysed the process at several grocery warehouse distribution centres and made recommendations that would see standardised best practice implemented. The distribution centres were reviewed individually to ensure that the recommendations were specific and relevant, resulting in across the board best practice equipment control being implemented. The initiative identified many examples of control excellence throughout Woolworths sites. The challenge was to embed these processes across all the distribution centres to make sure all sites were operating consistently to best practice. Key to the recommendations was an increase in training, to help change perceptions of the process. Perception is the biggest hurdle in getting businesses to take pallet control seriously as a cost line. Pallets are not just a piece of wood, they are necessary to move product efficiently throughout our network Belinda says. Once people begin to understand the need for equipment and its associated cost, you tend to get more clarity and traction. There is now better clarity across the business regarding what ULD is (hired equipment) this is part of our inventory and needs to be managed. It s now a focal point; it s being spoken about instead of not noticed. At the conclusion of the initiative each site received individual reports and recommendations as well as an overall final report to assist with embedding the changes. The process has provided good insight and learnings for all of us regarding the requirements for optimal equipment control and will be of substantial benefit assisting with identifying process gaps across all retail distribution centres, Lesley said. If you would like assistance with asset control or would like to discuss your asset management needs, please speak to your CHEP representative, or call 13 CHEP (2437). CHEP is a Brambles company 3

4 Innovation underpins Newton Orchards quality result While many things have changed in the 84 years since brothers, George and Harold, established the first plantings at Newton Orchards of Manjimup in Western Australia, their innovative spirit has endured to see the farm become one of the most progressive and respected pome and stone fruit producers in Australia. The WA-based orchard produces around 8000 tonnes of apples each year across a number of varieties, supplying fruit to both the export and domestic and markets, through major retailers, independent retailers and wholesale markets. The farm is still family-owned and operated with an underpinning philosophy of innovation and excellence. George Newton s granddaughter and Newton Orchards company director, Lucinda Giblett, recently shared some of the innovative practices employed on the farm today and reflected on what her grandfather might have made of it. The fruit cools faster in the CHEP crates and they are sturdier so there is potentially less risk of fruit damage. Newton Orchards Company Director, Lucinda Giblett Our goal has always been about growing the best quality fruit possible, Lucinda says. We follow recognised quality management systems SQF and Woolworths these cover everything from land management, storing, packing, and transportation, right through to the end consumer. Our new plantings are all high density, we use computerised fertigation and a microsprinkler system to minimise water usage, and we plant the inter-rows with nitrogen-fixing plants like clover and rye grass to assist in building the soil ecology. In its conventional (non-organic) plantings Newton Orchards uses integrated pest management (IPM) practices, including pheromone traps for fruit fly, and pest scouting - one staff member is devoted to full-time observation and testing - to keep sprays to an absolute minimum. Indeed, in 2012 a leading UK importer, Empire World Trade, praised Newton Orchards for having one of the shortest chemical lists they d ever seen in a conventional orchard, more than meeting the strictest standards in the world. In 2008, Newton Orchards began the process of converting to organic production at its Valleyview Orchard. Our basic premise is to ensure we have the least possible impact on the natural environment and produce the best quality, cleanest and healthiest fruit we can, Lucinda says. One farm is completely certified organic. Long term, it s my personal dream to see the whole operation go that way. Although conventional farming practices will continue on Newton Orchards other properties, they ll benefit wherever possible from the introduction of the most efficient and up-to-date integrated pest and disease management practices. We use the latest innovations in modern equipment where possible, such as controlled atmosphere storage and state-of-the-art packing machinery and technology. We recently installed Colour Vision Systems pre-sizer, one of only three in Australia, which scans and sorts electronically for size, colour and defects. Part of Newton Orchards commitment to quality and sustainability involves choosing to use CHEP crates within their cool chain. The company made the switch from cardboard cartons to returnable plastic crates four years ago to move fruit from the farmgate to the retail floor. The crates are much more sustainable and cost effective than cardboard cartons, Lucinda says. The fruit cools faster in the CHEP crates and they are sturdier so there is potentially less risk of fruit damage. Using an environmentally sustainable solution is of the utmost importance to us. We re always looking for ways to become better stewards of the land we live from, and improve our environmental footprint. CHEP returnable plastic crates have enabled us to do this, in the realm of packing and marketing our product, in a really significant way. A high quality, reusable product is crucial to us. My grandfather was a visionary, innovative man, building the first cool store in the area in the 1940s. I think if he were alive today, he d be fascinated by the systems and developments we ve made since his time, particularly the incredible efficiencies and advanced technology in our packing systems, as well as our move toward organics and sustainable agricultural systems. Lucinda Giblett, Newton Orchards Company Director. We re always looking for ways to become better stewards of the land we live from, and improve our environmental footprint. CHEP returnable plastic crates have enabled us to do this. Newton Orchards Company Director, Lucinda Giblett 1 An independent lifecycle analysis of CHEP s returnable plastic crates found that on a daily basis the system reduces solid waste by 20 tonnes and saves 175 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions and 1.2 million litres of water, compared to a single-use corrugated cardboard system. CHEP is a Brambles company 4

5 New solution improves economics of regional flows CHEP s new reusable and returnable dry goods intermediate bulk container, the IcoQube, is more economical than cardboard in the international supply chain. Lightweight and foldable, the IcoQube is specifically designed to improve shipping container capacity, withstand the extreme conditions inside sea containers and protect costly automotive parts in transit. Automotive manufacturers and suppliers continually face issues of extreme conditions and high levels of humidity within shipping containers used for intercontinental shipping. When crossing the equator, for example, temperatures rapidly increase to more then 60 degrees Celsius, and on the high seas, containers must withstand forces of up to 2g. Initial results demonstrate an improvement in the utilisation of a container of between 8 and 10 per cent, compared to conventional disposable packaging. Cardboard boxes have been known to collapse under these extreme conditions, resulting in damage to the components being transported and high cost impacts to both the suppliers and manufacturers from reworking parts. The IcoQube provides a cost-effective solution to these problems. Sturdy and robust, it ensures the best possible protection for the goods within. It is also stackable and designed to fully utilise both 20 and 40 shipping containers. Put simply, manufacturers can load more goods into a sea container reducing the per piece logistics costs. Initial results demonstrate an improvement in the utilisation of a container of between 8 and 10 per cent, compared to conventional disposable packaging, saving up to $500 per container dependent on the supply chain. The CHEP IcoQube is designed to fully utilise shipping containers. The key for many organisations involved in the international movement of products is how to reduce waste, improve product quality and reduce handling at line-side or within the warehouse with the introduction of the IcoQube there is now a solution. CHEP Australia Business Manager Manufacturing, Tony Lavers CHEP Australia Business Manager Manufacturing, Tony Lavers, says There s a growing trend in the automotive industry for vehicle parts to be sourced outside of the country in which the car is ultimately manufactured. The IcoQube is a truly global packaging solution designed to meet this growing demand and is most suitable to international supply chains where there are short lead times between when the product is packed to when it is decanted. The IcoQube comes in four different sizes designed to meet customers needs and ensure cost reductions at their plants. Like all CHEP containers, the IcoQube is reusable, and available on the standard pooling model which significantly reduces the waste associated with traditional packaging. The savings are not only in the direct cost of hiring an IcoQube compared to the cost of semi- bulk-cartons but there are also cost savings associated with improved shipping container utilisation, de-stuffing, handling and waste disposal. The key for many organisations involved in the international movement of products is how to reduce waste, improve product quality and reduce handling at line-side or within the warehouse with the introduction of the IcoQube there is now a solution, Mr Lavers says. For more information about the IcoQube and the way it could benefit your business with international shipments, please contact Tony Lavers on tony.lavers@chep.com or speak to your CHEP account representative. CHEP is a Brambles company 5

6 Study to explore packaging s role in reducing food waste Food waste is an increasingly important issue for industry, government and consumers both in Australia and around the world. CHEP Australia has commissioned RMIT University s Centre for Design to investigate where waste is being generated in Australia s food supply chains and how packaging can help reduce or minimise that waste. A 2012 report for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimated that one-third of the edible parts of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted globally each year. 1 Additionally, studies on food waste recently released in the US 2 have documented the significant quantity of food wasted across the supply chain. While there is no available data on the percentage of food grown or sold in Australia that eventually becomes waste, the per capita food loss for North America and Oceania combined is estimated to be around kg per year, equivalent to around 6.5 million tonnes of food waste in Australia each year. 3 Packaging materials and systems play an important role in containing, protecting, preserving and distributing food stuffs. Program Director Sustainable Products and Packaging at RMIT University, Dr Karli Verghese Program Director Sustainable Products and Packaging at RMIT University, Dr Karli Verghese, says: We re aware that around half of the world s food losses could be prevented through more efficient supply chains. Understanding the reasons behind waste generation in the Australian food supply chain in conjunction with other drivers such as changes in demographics, lifestyles and food consumption patterns is paramount in addressing losses. CHEP Australia has commissioned RMIT s Centre for Design, led by Dr Verghese, to investigate where waste is being generated in Australia s food supply chains and what role packaging can play in reducing or minimising that waste. Packaging materials and systems play an important role in containing, protecting, preserving and distributing food stuffs. These important functions are sometimes overlooked when food is moved and purchased across the supply chain, Dr Verghese says. The ability to grow food in one region and distribute it throughout the country and the world Dr Karli Verghese, Program Director Sustainable Products and Packaging at RMIT University. is critical to food security, and is only possible with well-designed packaging systems. The study includes desktop research in conjunction with interviews with key stakeholders across the fresh and processed food supply chains. This study is unique in that it takes the hot topic of food waste and maps it out against the role that packaging plays at each stage of the supply chain, Dr Verghese says. We are only at the tip of the iceberg in mapping out where food waste is generated and the reasons for that waste, but what we are seeing through our research is that food is being wasted at each stage of the life cycle on the farm, in the packing sheds, in distribution, at retail, in food service and at home. The results of the study The role of packaging in minimising waste in the supply chain of the future will be released in May This study is unique in that it takes the hot topic of food waste and maps it out against the role that packaging plays at each stage of the supply chain. Program Director Sustainable Products and Packaging at RMIT University, Dr Karli Verghese 1 Global Food Losses and Food Waste (Gustavsson et al. 2011, p. 4). 2 (Gunders 2012), Institute of Mechanical Engineers (2013) and Gustavsson et al (2011) 3 [1] Based on a population of 22,893,354 (Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2013). Population Clock. Retrieved 20 January, CHEP is a Brambles company 6