INSIGHTS

Castorama Poland selects K. Hartwall SmartCube® Jumbo to replace pallets to increase the efficiency of their operations

By moving from forklifts to the K.Hartwall LiftLiner® tugger train, Posti Group managed to not only increase its productivity by almost 40%, but also to increase the safety of its employees.

When logistics firm K.Hartwall asked customers about their biggest challenges, warehouse automation, asset tracking and sustainability were among the top trends they identified.

A need for greater efficiency and automation is now making mobile robots an even more relevant option for parcel operators.

The main reasons for choosing K.Hartwall roll cage were high quality combined with low weight compared to other 4-sided roll containers.

“First we were thinking about the space that we could save in the DC, the stores, as well as in the trucks, but we soon noticed that the Foldia® Plus had a positive impact on the entire supply chain”

To support its development, search for profitability and continuous improvement approach, Groupe Thiriet decides to replace its fleet of demountable roll cages with the Foldia®.

The humble roll cage, stalwart of the logistics industry for many years, continues to be the most efficient way to move mixed loads through the supply chain with minimal handling and ease of replenishment.

Foldias were a perfect fit for Winetime's logistics operation and provided a lot of benefits both in terms of cost-efficiency and also better ergonomics for their employees.

In its process of continuous improvement, the SCHIEVER Group was looking for a sustainable alternative to reduce the health & safety risks in its operations

We are all familiar with the idea of TCO – total cost of ownership. However, it is not just the cost that we should approach with this method. The same should concern the sustainability aspect of the way we work and the investments that we make.

To help repair and maintenance work, K.Hartwall has designed a repair bench with a set of suitable tools. A good example of utilizing the repair bench is a leading supermarket chain in Ecuador.

By adding a sensor, a load carrier can become an intelligent asset that has the ability to produce data. There are several sensor technologies available but more important than the technology are the benefits that can be unlocked.

Ecolotrans has been using demountable roll containers from the very start but realised after testing the Foldia that it was a much more ergonomic, sustainable and effective alternative.

Dixy is one of the largest Russian retailers and the 30th largest private company in Russia. They constantly expand the scale of their business by launching new projects and needed a trustworthy partner they could count on.

Since the outbreak of Covid-19, the world is facing unprecedented challenges. There is a lot of uncertainty in the air, which makes planning for the future very challenging. From an operational perspective, what are the things postal and parcel companies should be considering to be better prepared for the coming years?

While renewing its equipment, U Proximité France, realised that they could easily improve their operations and the work conditions of their operators within the warehouse, the stores as well as under transport.

“We have been working with K.Hartwall for 12 years and the principal reason for this long-term partnership is the honest relationship, true support and very good quality of the products.”

K.Hartwall got directly impacted by the current pandemic as company Board member and earlier CEO John Hartwall has peacefully passed away this week after a short but aggressive illness caused by the COVID-19 disease.

We believe that continuous innovation is key to long-term partnerships. See here how our designers develop an improved milk trolley within weeks to support Arla UK instead of creating a new product which was not needed.

Forklifts are widely used in parcel operations today to move different load carriers. However, the need for greater throughput is making sorting centres more congested and forklift movements are becoming an increasing challenge for many parcel operators.

Retail Partners Colruyt Group selects K. Hartwall Foldia® to replace their demountable roll containers in order to gain safety and reduce operational costs.

Omega Ltd is one of the fastest growing retailers in Ukraine. They decided to change their operations from wooden pallets to roll containers. After testing different roll cages they chose the Foldia®. The criteria were low weight and high quality.

During the past 10 years Mega Image, one of the TOP retailers in Romania, switched from wooden pallets to roll cages and today, more than 99% of total volume are delivered on the Compactainer® roll cages.

While meeting with customers in Brazil, we came into talks with a major hard discounter retailer, active in the greater Sao Paulo region as well as many other areas around Brazil. They used demountables with height extensions.

SPAR Handels AG Switzerland is a leading retailer with independently owned and operated food retail stores and gas stations. SPAR started a project in 2016 to rethink their transport management with foldable roll container.

One may emphasize the beauty and fragance of a rose or one may only think about the threatening pain of a thorn. That begs the question: What should you consider in terms of price vs lifespan when investing in roll containers?

Our Sales Manager in France has been working with Picard Surgelés to create a training video for their operational teams. Picking was earlier made in demountable roll cages so it was crucial to teach the end users how to handle the new equipment.

Our customers consistently agree there is room for significant improvement in their asset management practices. The challenge varies between customers and industries, but the common theme is the lack of data and visibility.

Growth of parcel volumes is putting pressure on the labour intensive parts of the operations where most of the parcels are handled individually. Bringing robotics and load carriers together can help posts reduce their reliance on manual labour in the sorting centers.

The term “Loose load” describes the loading of cargo directly into a truck or container without the use of load carriers. Today, loose loading is widely used for both bulk transportation and parcels as it maximises truck fill. But see what PostNord has tested.

Ahlsell Sweden have been undergoing a huge expansion for the past 3 years and invested tens of millons euros to build a high storage warehouse. For this new operation they needed a suitable and efficient load carrier.

While sorting automation has been key to improve operations, labour costs can still account for the majority of operating expenses, and often as much as 30% of space in every trailer is empty during transit.

Our continued focal points for the automotive sector have been geographical expansion and continued development of the solution and product offering.

Even the best things can break due to wear and tear or rough handling that load carriers experience on a daily basis. This is why we started a customer focused service partnership with Plåt & Svets i Stenkullen AB in Gothenburg.

To further improve quality and efficiency we have invested in cutting-edge laser cutter, wire processing and welding techniques.

Because flagship automated sorting systems are undeniably glamorous, it is easy to overlook the huge potential efficiency improvements that can be achieved by optimising manual handling operations and maximising cubic fill.

K.Hartwall has launched a welfare program to support a Junior Sport team in each of the countries where it is doing business. The first awarded Junior Team is situated in Liuzhou City, 1500 km East of Suzhou. Read more

Loose loading of parcels between terminals is a very common way of operating within Postal – and for good reasons. As a large part of the overall logistics costs is tied to transportation, assuring the maximal cubic fill especially for long distances in trucks or containers is smart and cost efficient.

Total of assets in use: unknown. Loss of assets: significant. Unnecessary buying of assets. Tied in capital of assets: not optimal. Operational disturbances due to uneven distribution of assets.

In addition to selling some of the most innovative containers in the market, K.Hartwall wants to help our customers lower the total cost of ownership of load carriers which is why we are introducing a brand new cloud-based Repair Data System.

As stated in the latest strategy update last June, Posti aims to be the number one provider of postal and logistics services to its customers in 2018. They have also stated that the most important financial target is to maintain good profitability and keep one step ahead of the ongoing fast transformation of the postal industry.

In Finland we are close to nature. It is a part of our DNA, not just a trend. At K. Hartwall we have intensified our efforts over the last four years to manage environmental issues.

Unimaq SA in Latin America is a logistics specialist who know what they are talking about. They have been on the market for 56 years and are one of the largest distributors of industrial equipment in Colombia. Unimaq’s core business is the rental of machinery and equipment. For about two years, they have been offering K. Hartwall solutions to their customers. The results are outstanding.

Lean is essentially to maximize customer value while minimizing waste. To accomplish this, Lean thinking changes the focus of a company from optimizing the different assets, technologies and departments to optimizing the flow of products and services through the entire value streams from suppliers all the way to the customers.

You most likely know your yearly transport costs and cost per shipped unit. You will also know your DC personnel costs and total cost of DC operations. But do you know the hours used and the costs for replenishment in stores? Do you know how much it contributes to the total handling costs?

Companies who implemented the Lean Modular Solution have reported cost savings of up to 40% and increased productivity of up to 55%.

Companies are in a constant cycle that pushes them to improve their business in order to keep their competitive advantage. Bottom line: we all want to reduce our costs, time consumption and inventory. There are different ways to achieve this but one way that has proven through the years to improve the efficiency of an organization substantially is a supply chain design known as Lean Logistics.