Sweet packaging solution from bekuplast

They are sweet, salty or sour and a real taste experience – the liquorice, sweets and fruit gums of one of the largest Dutch confectionery manufacturers, for whom bekuplast, manufacturer of reusable plastic transport containers, developed a special container. The container is used for transport, storage and preservation and is designed to meet the high demands of in-house confectionery logistics. 50,000 of these industry-specific bekuplast boxes are in circulation at the company.

The confectionery manufacturer, which is known for liquorice and wine gums, has invented a technology to produce sweets with a liquid filling as well as a combination of chocolate and liquorice in a drop. Several million kilograms of the treats leave the factory in the Dutch-Frisian town of Jirnsum every year. Quality is the top priority.

To catch the still warm fruit gums and liquorice when they come out of the moulding press and drying line onto the conveyor belt, the confectionery producer needed new transport boxes. They also had to support the drying process and be suitable both for safe transport and for storing and preserving the confectionery. The transport container specialists from bekuplast analysed the requirements and designed a new container for the company. The container, made of food-safe HDPE, is robust, lightweight, hygienic and recyclable to boot.

Container design for smooth handling

Clever ventilation and storage: the side walls of the containers are finely perforated – large enough to ventilate the confectionery well and dry it evenly, but small enough that the fine grid does not leave any marks on the confectionery and the drops cannot fall out. The containers hold 10kg of sweets each. The soft products are stacked in only a few layers to keep their shape.

Safe stacking: The stable corners and feet enable safe stacking on top of each other during transport and storage. The containers are filled with around 10kg of confectionery. Even the bottom box reliably carries the largest load. Due to the stacking corners, the containers stand slightly raised on top of each other – this creates a slot for air circulation to maintain the defined temperature range for drying and preservation.

Perfectly fitting shape: With dimensions of 570 x 370 x 140mm, the containers are precisely matched to the confectionery manufacturer’s transport lines. They are handy and ergonomically designed so that employees can easily take them off the conveyor belt.

Sustainable material: The bekuplast solution with reusable containers is sustainable, and the boxes are also made of extremely durable plastic. Even if the life cycle of the box should end after many years, it is 100% recyclable – the recyclable material can be processed into new containers.

Meili Robots wins top supply chain award

US media organisation Supply & Demand Chain Executive has selected Meili Robots as a recipient of the Top Supply Chain Projects Award for 2021.

Meili Robots says it is on a mission to elevate the traditional supply chain and logistics industry by eliminating interoperability pain points. Its universal fleet management system – Meili FMS – opens up new levels of automation in warehouses and manufacturing spaces by bridging the gap between different types and brands of robots. Its solution is easy to integrate with any ERP-type system and ensures that robots that operate in the same environment can communicate with each other and work collectively.

Thanks to tremendous growth in the robotics industry, supply chains are becoming more aware of the benefits of automation – especially in warehouses. As a result, more users are diversifying their fleets to serve different operational processes. Manufacturers currently supply their robots with their own fleet manager, which means that robots in diverse fleets cannot communicate with each other. This leads to collisions and delays in operations, which, in turn, creates an inefficient, costly, and unsafe work environment. That is why there is a need for a universal, third-party solution like Meili FMS that can tackle the pain points of interoperable robot fleets.

The Top Supply Chain Projects (formerly known as SDCE 100) spotlights successful and innovative transformation projects that deliver bottom-line value to small, medium and large enterprises across a range of supply chain functions. These projects show how supply chain solutions and service providers help their customers and clients achieve supply chain excellence and prepare their supply chains for success.

“The supply chain industry has been challenged with a host of supply chain disruptions over the last year. Yet, the winners on this list continued to re-tool and innovate,” says Marina Mayer, editor for Supply & Demand Chain Executive and Food Logistics. “Whether it be moving a customer to a cloud-based solution or implementing a more sustainable shipping option, these top supply chain projects reflect the supply chain industry’s strength and resilience to overcome disruptions and work better, smarter and more efficiently in the years ahead.”

Online event: Warehousing & Logistics Solutions

On 22nd June, Robopac and OCME will host a new Digital Event on the TECH HUB+ platform, where visitors will learn in detail the Group’s automatic solutions dedicated to logistics through the voice of managers and presentations of success stories and related technologies.

Register at https://www.tech-hub.aetnagroup.com/user/signup to view the latest technological innovations of Aetna Group, with the aim of promoting an exclusive dialogue with customers and suppliers, even remotely.

Various interesting contents will be on the programme, which will be narrated by experts, starting with handling and internal logistics solutions such as OCME laser-guided vehicles (LGV) and integrated control and management logistics systems. The event will also analyse plants with a high level of automation to understand how goods, pallets and raw materials can be handled with automatic systems managed by software that constantly monitor the operating parameters and define the tasks of each unit, maintaining a very high level of management and traceability.

In addition, products that are particularly difficult to manage, both in terms of handling and stretch wrapping applications, will be examined. The participants will talk about the Empty Containers sector and Robopac System response to the criticalities faced by both producers of empty plastic containers and producers of empty aluminium cans and containers. That will be followed by a presentation of the characteristics of all the arm and ring wrappers that allow to contain very light products without damaging them and without dropping. This is the case of Cube Technology and Genesis Thunder.

To certify the value of the products, important customers in the sector who have chosen Robopac and OCME brands as their ideal technological partners will testify their experience with the consulting service offered by the TechLab. The research and development laboratory created to optimise load stabilisation, customising it to the customer’s particular product through advanced testing machines and tailor-made instrumentation.

These and many other topics will be discussed during this exciting online event that combines concrete cases of success and the skills of the most qualified personnel, through a dynamic and engaging narrative. An initiative strongly supported by Robopac and Ocme, always ready to seize new opportunities to be close to their customers and stakeholders, ensuring all the quality and reliability of a One Global Company that strongly believes in the future as the best guarantee of the innovative evolution of the packaging world.

The online event will have simultaneous translation in Italian, English, German, Spanish, Portuguese and French.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR FREE

Globalia adds new features to TMS

Globalia Logistics Network’s member-exclusive TMS FreightViewer will henceforth allow users to send quote requests to non-members via an interactive link.

In the ever-evolving scene of the logistics sector, it is now more important than ever to increase the accessibility of online tools and extend the opportunities of logistics software to as many users as possible. In this context, Globalia Logistics Network has decided to open up FreightViewer for access by non-members. Globalia agents will now be able to send and receive quote requests to any partner both inside and outside the network. This quote request comes in the form of an interactive link that needs to be clicked on and filled up by the recipient.

Despite the fact that collaborating with the network partners is a fool proof way to work in a safe and secure environment, many members have already successfully partnered with several external companies before becoming a Globalia member. For this reason, Globalia’s FreightViewer Department deemed it essential to open up the platform to external agents. This has immensely promoted communication even with freight forwarders who are not part of the network alongside the trustworthy Globalia agents.

Most importantly, the primary advantage of this new feature is that from now GLB agents can store the rates from independent freight forwarders outside the Network in FreightViewer software. Simply put, the addition of this new feature has enabled the agents to accelerate the quote generation process and even allowed them to store all quotations provided by any freight forwarder on this unique platform.

The digitisation of the logistics industry has highlighted several challenges for independent freight forwarders. One such challenge is the ability to consolidate and store all the data and exchange of information on one single platform. This where a software like FreightViewer becomes relevant. It not only allows GLB members to create instant, accurate door-to-door quotations but also streamlines the steps to request quotes from overseas agents.

As a result, it makes the daily operations of freight forwarders much more efficient. No matter whether the agent is a Globalia member or not, all users can now send and receive quotations from this platform.

Over the last couple of years, the freight forwarding industry has witnessed several changes including globalization and the rise in e-commerce trends. These changes have irreversibly transformed the landscape of this sector creating a more globalised and multimodal form of business involving a large number of components.

Furthermore, the pandemic and the ensuing lockdown have also considerably influenced and affected the operations of the logistics companies. The pandemic has made international travel extremely difficult. In this situation, freight forwarders can no longer consider travelling to a different country to meet their partner. This is why, now more than ever, it’s even more vital for freight forwarders networks to provide their members with efficient tools that encourage the easy exchange of data.

Setlog adapts software for Supply Chain Act

The software house Setlog has always seen the area of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) as part of the entire end-to-end supply chain. The Bochum-based company therefore developed the SCM software OSCA years ago for these areas.

Structurally, the tool has now been adapted to the new market situation as well as to the Supply Chain Act passed by the German parliament on 11th June. The goal is to enable companies to find more precisely fitting digital solutions for their processes, to connect their third-party systems to OSCA more easily and to bring even deeper transparency into the chain. OSCA stands for “Online Supply Chain Accelerator” and is used by more than 150 brands worldwide.

Setlog replaced the previous OSCA SCM and VCM software with five solutions: Procurement, SRM, Global Logistics, Quality Control and CSR. “Globally active companies cannot avoid setting themselves up digitally in their supply chain management. Those who have done their homework also do not have to fear additional costs or increased bureaucracy due to the introduction of the Supply Chain Act,” emphasises Ralf Duester, member of the board at Setlog.

He also points out that users of digital SCM tools need not worry about failing due to the complexity of environmental and human rights compliance regulations. “Users of OSCA already have very good tools at hand to manage the complexity both in the area of CSR, and also in the topics of purchasing, supplier management, logistics and quality control,” Duester explains.

For the further development of their software, Setlog’s experts have been in contact with relevant industry associations and many customers, including KiK Textilien und Non-Food, Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof, Adler and Woom. Numerous companies have been using OSCA for CSR issues for years to ensure compliance with social standards and to manage their suppliers and supply chain partners.

Duester advises companies to use the time until the German Supply Chain Act comes into action, at the beginning of January 2023, to digitize their supply chains: “Every importer should put the topic on its agenda – sooner rather than later.”

Duester does not see the new supply chain law as a cost driver for the domestic economy. For one thing, the European Union is working on a draft law which includes that due diligence obligations in the future will apply to all importers and companies that sell their products on the European market. A digital solution would create the transparency in supply chains that companies need, so that the requirements do not necessarily lead to higher prices. “For many companies, however, it is certainly necessary to set themselves up in a modern way,” says the SCM expert.

The goal of the Supply Chain Act is to give millions of families, especially in developing countries, better working conditions and opportunities for the future. The new regulations are initially to apply only to companies with more than 3,000 employees from 2023 – and to companies with more than 1,000 employees from 2024.

In this context, Duester emphasises that medium-sized companies that supply large corporations should also look into the Supply Chain Act now. “Corporations will secure in new contracts that not only large, but all suppliers comply with the law and that their supply chains are transparent,” he explains.

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