Vastly Improved Logistics
A clever new dual purpose box, manufactured from Correx®, for Swindon Foodbank
Handling food donations at Swindon’s Foodbank has been made a much simpler process thanks to a newly designed collection box designed and manufactured by GWP Group.
Having spent a number of weeks designing the boxes, GWP Group has now donated two hundred of them to act as food collection boxes throughout Swindon and the surrounding areas.
The durable boxes, which have been created from lightweight Correx® plastic, have been specifically designed for Swindon Foodbank in order to improve the logistics of food collections at the charity.
Swindon Foodbank’s operations
When local organisations donate food, it is often presented for collection in a myriad of re-used cardboard boxes and carrier bags. Whilst large donations of food are always welcome, the logistics of handling such volumes has been a resource and time-consuming effort for Foodbank.
Boxes used currently are often flimsy and overfilled, whilst bags can split spilling contents and stowing the food inside a van for safe transportation means having to transfer it into regular shaped rigid boxes.
When the food reaches the sorting warehouse it needs to be easy to handle so that it can be weighed into stock and donations recorded, before it can be sorted.
Andrew Hill, Project Manager at Swindon Foodbank, commented;
We weigh food in and out of our warehouse for several reasons. Firstly to give an idea at any point in time of our stocking levels, secondly as a charity we are required to take a monetary value to our accounts in regard to donations received in kind and thirdly so that we can recognise the scale of the giving by issuing a thank you to the donator that clearly tells them how much food was given.
He added;
We often pick up donations from multiple sources in a single van run, so being able to quickly segregate each donation by donor and load the van quickly is essential. At Autumn Harvest Thanksgiving, we receive multiple donations in bulk, last year we had 900 kg from a school and even with the enthusiastic help of the children it took an hour to pack the food at the point of collection
The solution
GWP Group’s solution to the problem was to design a flat packed, easy assemble box with a clear sleeve on the outside for a pre-printed label.
The Correx® boxes are collapsible with handle holes and, when assembled, are a consistent size and shape to perfectly fit into the Foodbank’s van.
When not in use, the boxes can be returned to their flat packed form so that they take up less of the Foodbank’s valuable warehouse space.
Being manufactured from Correx®, the boxes are waterproof, stack securely and safely in the van, are easy to label and re-label and quicker and safer to move.
The boxes are supplied to donor organisations ahead of time so that when Foodbank volunteers arrive to collect the food they are given regular-sized, strong boxes already neatly filled and clearly labelled. This saves a significant amount of time and improves recording accuracy.
Happy To Help
Earlier this year GWP announced that we had adopted Swindon Foodbank as their chosen charity. Since then GWP Group has helped Foodbank with their logistical activity including inventory management and stock control, IT and electrical expertise and storage.
This is in addition to the donation or corrugated cardboard boxes which are used for sorting in the Foodbank’s warehouse (a competition run in conjunction with Swindon College students).
Besides this, a team of nine GWP Group employees will shortly be taking on the Three Peaks challenge – scaling the highest mountain in England, Wales and Scotland – in order to raise much needed funds for the charity.
David Pedley, CEO at GWP Group, commented;
We worked with Foodbank last year to help improve the handling and transport of food for distribution to their clients and we know that our input and donation of custom-made boxes has made a great deal of difference to the charity. We are delighted that, once again, our expertise in packaging design and logistics has been able to help Foodbank, this time at food donation points.We know that demand for Foodbank’s services is on the increase and we’re really pleased that we could help.
Find out more...
For further information on Swindon Foodbank please click here, or visit the Correx® section of our site for further information on the products that can be manufactured from this material.
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About the Author
Matt has worked in the packaging industry for approximately 9 years, having joined GWP Group as Marketing Executive in 2012. [Read full bio…]
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