Content area
Full text
More evidence is being presented to show that returnable distribution pack. aging material is not only the environmentally correct thing to use, it can also have a positive impact on a company's profits.
Speaking at Pack Expo's forum on returnable distribution packaging, Merrick Bacon, product manager, packaging engineering, Herman Miller, Inc., told the audience his company is committed to producing zero landfill by 1995.
"On one product line--steel shelves --the use of returnable packaging has saved more than $600,000 in two years," Bacon said. "We've been able to eliminate more than 100,000 pounds of solid waste annually by incorporating a design that includes vacuum-formed separator and stretch film."
Bacon added that it is only through broad-based involvement of many departments within a company that success can be achieved and programs sustained.
"Most of the best ideas involved active participation from purchasing, order entry, logistics planning and distribution, he said.
Herman Miller Inc. is also somewhat unique in its use of co-generation of electricity. Since the 1980s, they have used an on-site co-generation plant for disposal of wood and corrugated. The process reduces waste volume by 90 percent. The...