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The express service provider trans-o-flex is pleased to announce another major customer transitioning from single-use boxes to reusable containers. MSD Animal Health is completely switching its pharmaceutical shipping to reusable containers in 2021, saving more than 60 tons of packaging material in the first year alone. The express service is launching a second packaging pool in collaboration with the manufacturer and pool operator Smart Container Loop.
(Weinheim) After a successful one-month test, trans-o-flex customer MSD Animal Health began on January 18 to transition its nationwide pharmaceutical shipping in Germany to transport in reusable containers. This affects all shipments with trans-o-flex Express and trans-o-flex ThermoMed, both with active temperature control at 2–8 °C and 15–25 °C, as well as without temperature control. By eliminating single-use boxes, the pharmaceutical company specializing in veterinary products aims to save more than 60 tons of packaging material by the end of the year. Additionally, according to MSD Animal Health, the reusable system reduces CO2 emissions by about 50 percent compared to the use of single-use boxes. The company assumes an average of 50 cycles per box and has also accounted for the return logistics and cleaning of the boxes.
Boxes from Smart Container Loop
For trans-o-flex, the containers used by MSD Animal Health represent the second large reusable box pool that the company has prepared and implemented within a year. Previously, the electronics retail group expert had already transitioned from single-use boxes to reusable containers for the delivery to its retailers. This change saves expert around 700,000 single-use boxes each year. In both cases, the boxes are manufactured by Smart Container Loop, and a new reusable box specifically designed for the shipping of pharmaceuticals has been developed for MSD Animal Health. The company, which is part of the Schoeller Group, is also responsible for cleaning and tracking individual containers as the pool operator. To facilitate this, trans-o-flex Express picks up empty boxes from the recipient and transports them stacked on pallets for cleaning. From there, they are handed over to the warehousing service provider of MSD Animal Health for further shipping.
trans-o-flex Develops Own Software for Transparent Box Management
To ensure that the operator of the box pool automatically receives all the information needed for optimal box management, trans-o-flex IT-Service GmbH has developed new software. This software not only provides the pool operator with classic status information but also manages additional processes, corrects errors, and thus always delivers a reliable basis for billing the boxes. “The basis for this is our classic scans for each package at every transport interface,” says Wolfgang P. Albeck, CEO of trans-o-flex. “With the new software, we not only transmit information about where a specific box is, such as whether it has been delivered to the recipient or is on its way to cleaning. It is also checked whether the previously transmitted box number is correct.” If not, the correct box number is automatically recorded in the system. “The goal is to make box management as simple and transparent as possible to optimize pool management and enable a traceable and cost-effective billing process.”
Part of the Sustainability Strategy
For MSD Animal Health, the switch to reusable boxes is part of its sustainability strategy, which explicitly includes logistics. “Previously, for example, we had already switched to compostable bubble wrap and delivery notes made from grass paper,” explains Jan Nemec, Managing Director of MSD Animal Health. “The introduction of the reusable box was the next logical step for us.” MSD Animal Health has now started with the smallest box size. The box used measures 30 x 20 x 16 cm. The boxes can be stacked both empty and full. A total of 688 empty boxes fit on a pallet. Throughout this year, MSD Animal Health plans to transition all other packaging sizes to gradually eliminate single-use cardboard as packaging material from its pharmaceutical shipping completely.
Photo: © trans-o-flex
www.trans-o-flex.com www.msd-tiergesundheit.de http://smartcontainerloop.de
