Packaging for Logistics / Distribution

As highlighted above, there are increasing pressures on ecommerce businesses, fulfilment providers and indeed any companies shipping high volumes of parcels / deliveries. Whilst seeing growth in business driven by the upward popularity of online shopping, the associated pressures are increasing also.

Products need to arrive quickly, undamaged and often in packaging that shows no signs of being mis-handled in transit.

GWP can help however.

Whether you need corrugated logistics packaging, Correx® picking bins or any handling products to improve the efficiency of your fulfilment, GWP can provide either an “off the shelf” solution, or custom designed products tailored to your exact requirements.

The distribution and logistics market is one of the largest users of Correx® products within the UK

This is predominantly due to the need for reusable totes, trays and boxes for storing and transporting smaller parcels and goods. By utilising multi trip packaging supplied by the GWP Correx® division, this allows for distribution and logistics companies to easily sort and manage items with a durable and long lasting handling solution.

Besides the prevalence of handling totes and containers, Correx® can be used in a number of other ways too.

For example, dividers can be used  to subdivide larger totes, allowing for the efficient movement of multiple items without causing damage.

Correx® picking bins can also be used to segment stock and products when in storage. These can improve picking rates if used correctly, improving fulfilment times and overall productivity.

The durable and hard wearing nature of Correx® also means the lifetime costs of such products is also minimised. Being easy to clean and resistant to moisture, oil and many chemicals further extends your Correx® products lifespan, but can also help protect products during handling and storage.

With the rise of ecommerce has also come the growth of fulfilment companies. Managing stock, order picking, shipping and even returns for large retailers or manufacturers has become a big business within the UK marketplace.

Of course, a large element of operations such as this focuses on logistics packaging- i.e. used to deliver items to customers. And this is an area where GWP Can help drive down your costs.

For example, by utilising GWP ‘s team of designers, you can specify custom packaging for logistics applications that is tailored to the size of the products being sent out. This has numerous benefits.

Firstly it reduces the size of the packaging – minimising costs of volumetric shipping. Secondly, it reduces the need for void fill and secondary packaging. This not only streamlines inventory (and eliminates another cost), but also means items are packed quicker and more efficiently.

Other services that GWP offer include packaging rationalisation (effectively the re-engineering for similarly sized boxes to benefit from economies of scale), an inventory management service that frees up valuable space in your warehouse, and even full packaging audits that look at every aspect of your packaging and handling to identify inefficiencies and wasted spend.

View a selection of the fulfilment, logistics and distribution packaging and handling products designed, manufactured and supplied by the different divisions of GWP Group. Please click the thumbnails for a larger view.

Any corrugated logistics packaging processes at your company can be enhanced in a number of ways through range of specialist coatings.

An example of this is the use of VCI corrosion inhibiting coating. Perfect for the transportation of metal goods (particularly via sea freight), VCI packaging eliminates the need for greases, papers and other secondary packaging that incurs costs and adds time to packing processes.

Other coatings include an anti abrasion coating to protect highly polished or painted surfaces (and even high quality display packaging) from the abrasive nature of corrugated. Corstat conductive coating allows for the protection of any electronics components that are sensitive to static electricity. And Liquiguard even offers a level of resistance to moisture, oil and grease.

Finally, Spectrumcoat can be used to flood coat colours onto corrugated packaging. This can be matched to individual brands pantone references, and can be overprinted with instructions, logos or graphics (a service GWP also offers).

CSCMP (Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals) defines logistics management as an element of supply chain management.

1985 saw the earliest form of logistic outsourcing (known as Third Party Logistics or 3PL). In effect, this a logistics hire service. The 3PL provider will manage transportation, warehousing, inventory management and packaging without claiming title to the products.

4PL however, differs slightly from 3PL. 4PL is more often a long-term contract between a client and one or more partners – a 4PL organisation will act as an agent between the client and multiple logistics providers.

The wholesaling sector employs the largest number of people in logistics at 41 percent. Second to this is the postal service with 14 percent of people employed in logistics working in this area, and thirdly driving accounts for 13 percent of the workforce total.

There are roughly 2.3 million people employed in logistics across over 188,000 companies. The industry itself is worth approximately £96 billion to the UK economy annually. There are over 1,500 warehouse units used for storage and distribution in the UK alone.

The UK’s largest warehouse distributor (perhaps unsurprisingly) is Amazon, shortly followed by Shaw National Distribution Centre based in Lancashire (which distributes for Yodel and The Shop Direct Group which is a multi-brand online retailer for sites such as Very and Littlewoods). Morrison’s takes the title for the third largest distributor in the UK.

Additionally, there are strong regional differences across the UK’s logistics establishments – The Midland regions have a larger focus for manufacturing whereas the south are more concerned with the distribution of food.

GWP Group has the experience, knowledge and flexibility to help distribution and fulfilment companies prosper in todays’ competitive landscape. This has seen us work alongside large, household names to smaller, independent and local companies.

A key benefit GWP offers your business is that of being a single source for all of your packaging. GWP have been manufacturing successful corrugated transit packaging for more than 25 years. We are the largest independent manufacturer of Correx® handling products in the UK. We have over 85% market share in the anti-static packaging market. And we can offer high quality, printed POS and retail ready packaging too.

A design team will work alongside your business with a genuine focus on reducing costs. From eliminating secondary packaging to reducing packing times, your packaging for logistics will be analysed to highlight cost savings that take a holistic view of your operations, rather than focusing solely on unit costs.

With storage space a large cost for any distribution company, GWP can help free up valuable warehouse capacity through a pioneering inventory management service. This allows you to call off your packaging just as you need, with Just In Time deliveries and vastly reduced lead times.

So whether you are looking to improve the efficiency of your operations, reduce the number of product returned as damaged in transit, free up some warehouse space or all of the above, GWP’s range of services and products can help you achieve your targets.

If you think your existing packaging for distribution & logistics isn’t working as hard as it could be, is costing too much or simply isn’t up to the job, please contact GWP to see how much better it could be.