Estructurando el diseño de envases y embalajes para mejorar la sostenibilidad. Evidencias empíricas en el sector de menaje

En mercados cada vez más globales, volátiles y competitivos las empresas tienen que promover activamente acciones y políticas que mejoren la eficiencia y la sostenibilidad de sus cadenas de suministro. En este contexto, el adecuado diseño de envases y embalajes constituye un factor clave para lograr este objetivo. A finales del siglo XX empieza a conceptualizarse el enfoque “Packaging Logistics” que persigue la integración eficiente y sostenible de los sistemas de envase, embalaje, producto y cadena de suministro para lograr ventajas competitivas; dicho marco se amplía posteriormente para promover la mejora del comportamiento sostenible de empresas y cadenas de suministro con el enfoque “Sustainable Packaging Logistics” (SPL). En este contexto, en este artículo se busca validar conceptual y empíricamente hasta qué punto la aplicación de un modelo estructurado que despliegue el enfoque SPL puede contribuir de forma activa a un mejor comportamiento sostenible en la cadena de suministro. Para ello, se justifica y propone un modelo de despliegue que después se analiza en una muestra de 66 fabricantes del sector de menaje en España. Los resultados alcanzados validan mayoritariamente los aspectos del modelo propuesto

Rethinking the box for sustainable logistics

Packaging design is one of the potential strategies for increasing logistics performance, not only from a cost reduction perspective, but also from a sustainable point of view. The deployment of a sustainable vision in packaging design should demand a holistic view of packaging, supply chain and product; this integrated vision is the main point of the “Sustainable Packaging Logistics” (SPL) approach. At a logistics level, a key link with the different stages of the supply chain is the secondary packaging, which most commonly takes the form of a corrugated cardboard box. Thus, the main objective of this paper is to develop a systematic and dynamic method that makes it possible to connect design decisions about the dimensions of that box with their impact on overall efficiency and sustainability of the supply chain. In order to develop this model, the impact on three different logistics systems is described. Those systems are palletizing, multimodal containers and parcel services. Likewise, in addition to proposing the theoretical model, the authors have tested it successfully in three different companies (with the three logistics systems mentioned) following the “action research” approach

Methodology for launching a packaging rationalization project. An “action research” case in the industrial sector

International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Industrial Management (13th. 2019. Gijón

Methodology for selecting packaging alternatives: an “action research” application in the industrial sector

Packaging could and should be considered one of the key elements that promote supply chain performance in terms of efficiency and sustainability. Although, packaging should be considered as a system comprising three different levels (primary, secondary and tertiary), in the industrial sphere design problems are usually centered exclusively on two levels: the primary packaging (the “box”) and the tertiary packaging (the “unit load”). Thus, the main object of this paper is to propose a methodology that facilitates, in a comprehensive way, decision making in packaging system design in order to reduce total costs. To do so, the methodology makes a qualitative and quantitative exploration (including a proposal of a heuristic method) to establish strategies that enable the definition, comparison and selection of an efficient range of package designs (with their associated dimensions) that is efficient and sustainable in an overall way in terms of purchasing costs, logistics costs and environmental costs. Likewise, the authors develop the successful case of a Spanish company implementing successfully the proposed methodology. To develop this case, the authors have adopted an “Action Research” approach. The empirical validation process was developed over almost 10 years