More than 4,000 improvement suggestions from the shop floor!
A year and a half ago, we at Faes began the global rollout of our web-based application PackAssist within Philips Healthcare's logistics and return/repair supply chain.
By answering a simple and user-friendly registration questionnaire in PackAssist, more than 4,000 improvement proposals were submitted by employees of all levels. These proposals mainly result in less bulky, yet still high-quality packaging. In other words,
the air is taken out of packaging!
At Faes, we also call encouraging and facilitating employees to easily make improvement suggestions themselves – in whatever position or level they work – “empowerment of the workplace.
Volume reduction: 'empty air' from packaging
A random sample revealed that if an expert were to look at the collected improvement proposals, Philips would start saving at least €1,000,000 annually on transportation costs. This simply by removing empty air from the packaging. Faes started working on this at Philips’ request, obviously with the help of PackAssist. A recent “big data” analysis shows that in the future the savings could even amount to over €8 million. From a cost point of view, this is a very good thing, but don’t forget theCO2 emission reduction as well. With the number of transport movements Philips has each year, the impact on it is significant. Not insignificant, since we all know we need to do (and leave!) more for the environment.
Quickly operational
What is unique about the combination of using PackAssist and Faes’ expert advice is that the changes are immediately operational. As a result, the benefits are reaped immediately without laborious and slow change procedures, while everything remains adequately secured.
Continued
Following this action, there are plans to apply a more efficient range of packaging materials to increase current savings. Through big data analysis of runners and PackAssist data, our experts are able to determine the ideal mix of packaging to match the customer’s order flow. Annual cost savings are expected to be an additional 1 to 4 million euros.
Not only Philips
Of course, not only Philips has such problems. Due to inefficiencies in supply chain processes, many companies have similar issues. A recognizable example is this picture, where a CD in its packaging is once again packed in 3 boxes when it could be perfectly sent in a sturdy bubble envelope.
This may seem like an extreme example, but this kind of sub-optimal packaging is unfortunately no exception. Not only is this a waste of packaging, but it also has a significant impact on transportation costs.
Do you also want to greatly reduce your transportation volumes?
Let us know in the form below. We will contact you soon to discuss the possibilities and opportunities during a personal meeting. Would you prefer to speak to me or one of my colleagues directly? Feel free to call us.