Environmental measures related to packing

Transcription

1 Environmental Measures in the Logistics Field Atsuo MIYAZAKI*, Kenichi MOTEGI**, Masami NAKAJIMA*** Abstract At Oki Logistics Co., Ltd (hereinafter, OLC), we perform a variety of logistics functions, such as finished product distribution where we haul the products of the various Oki Group companies, including Oki Electric Co., Ltd., Oki Data Corp., from the factories to customers. Other types of logistics include: procurement-related logistics where we haul purchased parts from the parts maker to the Oki Group factory, production-related logistics where deliver parts from surrounding factories to a central factory, and collection logistics where items to be disposed of are hauled to a holding location. OLC, like many medium or small logistics companies in the industrial field, we perform so-called non-asset type distribution business. We don t have our own facilities such as trucks, warehouses, etc.; instead, we place orders to shipping companies for all truck hauling and we rent warehouses from warehouse companies and then operate the warehouses. The so-called physical distribution aspect of our work consists the activities of shipping, loading/unloading, packing, distribution work, and storage, which we integrate by logistics control, using information technology. These activities have come to have issues that impact the environment on many fronts. 1 On a global scale there are the problems of global warming, destruction of the ozone layer, acid rain, pollution of the oceans, and depletion of resources, while at the regional level, problems include air pollution, noise/vibration/noxious odors, traffic accidents, and waste materials. (See Figure 1.) Viewed from the perspective of logistics activities, these problems, which impact the environment, can be broadly grouped into two categories: impact on the environment through product packaging, and impact on the environment which occurs through shipping goods. In this paper, we describe this subject from two aspects: the measures OLC is taking to reduce environmental burden and the results of these measures. Environmental measures related to packing Two types of impact on the environment are caused by packing: impacts which occur at the time of manufacturing the packing materials and impacts on the environment which occur when packing materials are disposed of. As a means of reducing environmental burden, implementing Depletion of resources Parts factory Fabricating factory Destruction of the ozone layer Air polution Global warming Acid rain Reuse of lumber resources Packaging material manufacturing plant Noise and vibration Exhaust gas Assembling Warehouse factory Logistics activity Ocean pollution Homes Figure 1: Logistics and the environment Waste material Waste packaging materials Business office 3R design which can be applied at the time of designing packing materials has become a subject of interest. 3R refers to a design approach that fully considers: Reuse, Reduce, and Recycle. There is a fourth R, which seeks to Replace current packing materials with more environmentally friendly alternatives. At OLC, in designing packing materials, we have been applying 3R for some time. For that reason, as shown in Figure 2, the total volume of packing materials purchases has been steadily declining. This data includes the impact of changes in the products being shipped, but the trend of gradual reduction is clear. (units: thousands of tons) Other Resin Cardboard, paper, etc. * Oki Logistics Co., Ltd., Engineering Dept., Dept. Head. ** Oki Logistics Co., Ltd., Engineering Dept., Number 2 Packing Design Section, Section Head *** Oki Logistics Co., Ltd., Business Planning Dept., Business Planning Section, Section Head Figure 2: Trend in volume of packing materials purchases 33

2 Figure 4: Cardboard pallet Figure 5: Packing based on a cardboard pallet Figure 3: External view of transport dolly for mechanical units As a typical example of resource-saving packing focusing on the reduce aspect, for some time we have used simple packing (bare packing) of automated teller machines for financial institutions. With this method, the product is covered only with a polyethylene bag, a simple level of packing which can just keep out dust and prevent scratches. At the time of shipment, by securing the perimeter with protecting materials, which protects the surface of the product, we prevent the occurrence of scratches. With this relatively simple measure, shipping quality can be held to the same level as in the situation that the product is packed in a cardboard carton, etc. 2 Next we will show some other examples of 3R packing. 1. Example of a transport dolly for mechanical units In the past, the packing method for mechanical units (individually weighing 50 ~ 100 kg), such as the bill acceptor/dispenser mechanisms incorporated into automated teller machines, consisted of enclosing them in a cardboard carton or wooden crate after wrapping each one individually in cushioning material. As a result, a large volume of packing material was used and at the same time a lot of waste packing material was generated. Figure 3 is the external view of a transport dolly for mechanical units which applies the concepts of Reduce and Reuse. These mechanical units, after completion of assembly and inspection at the factory, are gathered in staging areas and pulled onto the receiving rails of a transport dolly which are set at the same height as the stage. Mechanical units have few parts which can be used to secure them, so they are secured by the receiving rails of the transport dolly, the rear guides, a front hold-down bar and an upper cover. Mechanical units, which are loaded into and secured on the transport dolly in sets of 5 units, are then shipped to an assembly factory where they are made into complete equipment units. To unload the mechanical units from the transport dollies, the front hold-down bar is removed, and with the upper cover in the open position, the units are pulled onto an unloading stage whose height is the same as the dolly rails. Because this transport dolly can be repeatedly used, it is effective in reducing cost and in eliminating any generation of packing material waste. 2. The example of cardboard pallets Conventionally, pallets are shipping stands on which items are loaded for shipping. By loading items on pallets and handling them with forklifts or other freight handling equipment, rationalization of shipping, storing, loading and unloading can be achieved. The wooden pallets, which have been used for many years, are heavy and handling them is inconvenient. In addition, when it comes time to dispose of them, they don t lend themselves to recycling, so they had to be disposed of by incineration. For that reason, we have begun using cardboard pallets as an alternative. Figure 4 is an external view of a cardboard pallet, and Figure 5 is the external view of a product pack using a cardboard pallet. The weight of the products in this case is 83kg and because the packs required mechanical loading and unloading for shipping and storage, we adopted cardboard pallets. These cardboard pallets can be manufactured in many regions of the world, their strength can stand up to mechanical handling, and they can bear edge dropping (tilting and dropping freight from a height of 30cm). The bare weight of wooden pallets is 9kg, while that of cardboard pallets at approx. 4kg is much less, making them easier to handle. Also, when they need to be disposed of, after their useful life is finished, they can be handled just like general cardboard waste. In Japan and Europe where they are very strict about the environment, they can be collected and converted to raw materials for making recycled paper. 3. The example of pulp molds For cushioning materials to protect products from shocks, in most cases plastic materials, such as Styrofoam, which have excellent cushioning characteristics, are used. However, Styrofoam products are bulky and have poor disposability, there is a growing changeover to other materials. Pulp mold is a part made of paper raw materials, such as newspaper or cardboard, and formed into a shape, using a mold or die. It is utilized in products people use 34

3 daily, such as egg cartons. Special features of pulp mold include: using thin (1 ~ 3mm) material and forming 3-dimensional shapes-ribs, etc.-it can have cushioning characteristics and weight bearing characteristics equivalent to Styrofoam products, because pulp mold forms are sheets made into peaks and valleys, they can be stacked and thus are not bulky when stored, because pulp mold is made from natural materials, the waste after such parts are used can be easily recovered and recycled, In addition, because the material cost is cheap, pulp mold cushioning material is about half that of Styrofoam products. However there are technical problems: because its characteristics in regard to high strength cushioning are poor, it s application to heavy item packing has been slow, its use for small lot production is difficult, and it takes a long time to make the necessary molds or dies. Figure 6 shows pulp mold cushioning material, while Figure 7 shows a product packed in cushioning material made of pulp mold. The products are printer consumables weighing 0.6kg and they require cushioning packing able to withstand being dropped from 92cm. Such packing has been applied in the distribution process in both domestic and foreign markets. 4. The example of cardboard cushioning material Another example of an alternative to plastic-type cushioning material is cardboard cushioning material for printer packing. The structure of cardboard raw material is shown in Figure 8. By gluing together the 5 sheets (three liners and two corrugating media), they become a lightweight panel with thickness and rigidity. There are many varieties of cardboard strength, depending on the grade and weight (g/m 2 ) of the raw materials used for the corrugating medium and for each of the liners which make up the cardboard. Raw materials are classified into A grade, B grade, and C grade and in each grade, the portion of used paper in the makeup of the total pulp is different, ranging form approx. 30% to 70%. The strength standards for each grade and weight of liner and corrugating media are set by JIS. Figure 6: Pulp mold Figure 7: Pulp mold cushioning packing Corrugating medium Back liner Figure 8: Structure of cardboard raw material Figure 9: Cardboard cushioning material Front liner Intermediate liner Figure 10: Product pack with cardboard cushioning With cardboard cushioning material, the desired cushioning characteristics can be achieved by utilizing the strength of sheets and by creating forms that take into account the direction of the corrugating medium. In addition, to maintain high strength, in some cases multilayer cardboard, in which several cardboard layers are glued together, is used. As for cushioning characteristics, compared to those of plastic cushioning materials such as Styrofoam, cardboard is inferior in terms of elasticity and restoring force. In addition, design methods are difficult because its hardness (rigidity) varies with the effects of humidity. Thus, to ensure reproducibility and accuracy in evaluation tests, it is necessary to monitor temperature and humidity parameters. The methods for manufacturing cardboard cushioning materials include punching, folding and bending, cutting, gluing, etc. and these require much hand labor by humans. As a result, these materials are inferior in terms of mass-producibility and their cost is high often 1.5 ~ 2.0 times that of Styrofoam. However, when it comes to waste disposal, these materials can be recovered in the same way as general cardboard and, as used paper, converted into raw material for cardboard and thus be reused. For this reason, recently they are being widely used as cushioning materials, for large and small lots and for both heavy and light products. Figure 9 shows the appearance of cardboard cushioning material and Figure 10 shows a product pack using cardboard cushioning material. The product is a heavy printer weighing 45 kg, but the pack displayed good cushioning characteristics, and in evaluation tests, it could bear being dropped from 76cm. The cardboard cushioning material has multilayer cardboard blocks wrapped within the bent and folded cardboard sheets. In this and other ways, due consideration has been given to preventing breakage or 35

4 separation under the shock of being dropped. In addition, in order to bear the weight of other cargo stacked on top of it (a situation which can be expected to occur during shipment), the structure is made so that the upper and lower cushion materials contact each other, providing vertical strength. Shipping-related Environmental Measures The environmental impact which occurs during shipping includes consumption of fuels such as gasoline by forklifts and trucks, air pollution caused by the exhaust gases (CO 2, NOx, PM [=particulate matter]) generated by these vehicles, noise, etc. Measures for reducing this environmental burden include: switching over to less polluting alternative fuels such as compressed natural gas (CNG); improving efficiency of fuel use through implementation of eco-drive countermeasures such as no idling (cutting the engine when stopped), restrictions on driving speeds, upper limits on engine RPM s, and prohibitions against rapid acceleration / rapid braking; modal shift to rail and ship transportation; reduction in total number of trucks through improvement in cargo load ratio and through operation of joint delivery truck runs; Here we will introduce some of the environmental programs OLC is now implementing. 1. Establishment of, and modal shift to, trunk-line transport for more efficient delivery At the time OLC was established, the main forms of domestic transport were chartered trucks (where trucks were leased for exclusive service) and consolidated trucking service where a route operator ran Utilization of JR containers Utilization of consolidation services and parcel delivery services Utilization of the port of Sendai CO 2 exhaust amount before implementing the programs CO 2 exhaust amount after implementing the programs Total (with 1999 as the base year) Reduction results CO 2 exhaust amount (thousands of tons) Figure 11: Results of programs to reduce CO 2 emissions trucks between major cities, and each shipper made its own arrangements independently. Later, for the North Kanto area, freight was gathered in one location and then shipped via OLC s own trunk-line routes to the various districts: Hokkaido, Tohoku, Kanto, Chubu, Kansai, Chugoku, Shikoku and Kyushu. In this way, large trucks were used and high shipping efficiency was achieved through large-volume shipments. To achieve even further efficiency, we made a modal shift in 1995 and began utilizing Japan Railways (JR) containers for shipments to our bases in Hokkaido, Chugoku, Shikoku, and Kyushu. In addition, by effectively utilizing freight consolidation services and parcel delivery services in parallel for small deliveries, we have worked to reduce our usage of charter services and trunk-line shipments and to increase loading ratios. 2. Utilization of the port of Sendai For the shipment of products from Fukushima, our main production facility for export products, our original arrangement was to ship the products to a major metropolitan port and then export them from there. However, through arrangements with ocean cargo companies, we were able to get them to have their US-bound ships put in at the port of Sendai which is near Fukushima. In that way we were able to export directly from the port of Sendai and thus the distance for truck shipment within Japan could be reduced. At the same time, in regard to the cargo loading work that is, loading the containers (container vanning ) had previously been done at the port, we changed to an arrangement where we brought the containers into the factory and packed them at the time of shipment. Thus, by using large container-carrying trucks, we were able to reduce the number of trucks used for shipping. Through this reduction in the number of trucks and shortening of the shipment distance, we were able to reduce the amount of CO 2 emissions, even adding back the amount generated by the ships having to put in at the port of Sendai. Figure 11 shows the effect of the various programs described above in reducing CO 2 emissions. The amount of CO 2 generated as exhaust is calculated from the shipping cost. Other Environmental Aspects of Logistics Logistics at OLC does not involve only sales logistics, the delivery of products from the maker to customers, we are also developing recovery logistics the effective recovery and recycling of old products, used containers, and packing materials in other words, reverse logistics service (or circular logistics service ). (See Figure 12.) The content of this service is: 1 Recycling logistics, focused on recovery of obsolete products and products in general which have finished their useful life, 36

5 Products Oki Electric Logistics functions Packaging / cargo loading Shipment Storage Recovery work Recovery logistics Shipping Customers Figure 12: Reverse logistics services 2 Logistics aimed at recovery of PC s and re-conversion to resources, in accordance with the Law Promoting Effective Utilization of Resources, and 3 Reuse logistics which focuses on packaging materials. These kinds of recovery logistics, by utilizing trunkline or chartered vehicles returning from distribution points where the freight-loading amount is low, contribute to improving the freight-loading ratio. Future environmental protection activities at OLC Our plans for the future related to the environment as explained in the opening paragraph, OLC is a so-called nonasset company and does not have its own facilities and equipment such as warehouses and trucks. Consequently, to implement measures to reduce impact of shipping on the environment, we must work in close coordination with our partners (subcontractors) who actually do the shipping. To facilitate this, we have formed the global environment subcommittee under the OLC discussion group (which has been organized among OLC and its main partners) and have begun activities addressing environmental issues. OLC s mission to strive, as a corporate citizen, to protect the global environment and contribute to society was stated in our mid-range business plan. With that as our objective, our activities will center around the OLC Eco Plan which we plan to launch in the first half of In the future also, in unison with our partners, we will push ahead on various activities aimed at environmental protection such as recycling of used packing containers for IC s (a project we have already initiated 3, obtaining ISO14001 certification for facilities which are still uncertified, etc. In this way we hope to make even further contributions to preservation of the environment. References 1. Hideki Tsukui: The Nature of Recycling-type Logistics, the Function of the Logistics Group, and Issues of Material Flow, (in Japanese) June, 1999, No. 471, p. 10, Ando and others: An Example of Implementing Resource Conservation in the area of Packaging Materials, (in Japanese) Oki Technical Review, Number 163, p. 59, July, Miyazawa and others: Material Recycling of IC Packing Containers (re-conversion to products), (in Japanese) Oki Technical Review, Number 176, p. 47, October,