This case study focuses on the way in which sturdy and reliable packaging materials, like rigid pallet boxes, can help companies save space and money and improve their logistic operations. The client is a major European producer of fruit and vegetables, but their number one export product is represented by oranges.
A Fruity Business with a Bitter Taste
The location is idyllic: a Mediterranean orchard full of orange trees with an efficient automatic picking system in place. The demand for fresh fruit and fruit juice all over the world is increasing, so it would appear that the future is looking bright for this client.
However, when their logistics manager contacted the packaging experts at Logistic Packaging, he sounded less than enthusiastic and happy with the daily operations of the business. The problem? The packages used for collecting the fresh fruit and storing them in the warehouse.
Natural Materials Are Not Always the Best Choice
For years, the company had relied on wooden crates to hold the freshly gathered fruit and keep them in the storage facility. The facility is equipped with top of the line cooling systems, maintaining an ideal temperature and humidity for the fresh produce.
The choice of wooden crates was made on the assumption that natural materials are the best choice for food products. That reasoning was wrong. Their batch of wooden crates needed constant repair and replacement. Some of the crates developed fungus, despite the best efforts to keep them clean and hygienic.
What the client needed was a packaging solution that:
- Is approved for food contact
- Is solid enough to bear a heavy load
- Is adequate for storing fresh fruit and vegetables
- Can be stacked to optimize the use of storage space.
The Logistic Packaging Experts Step In
Once the client’s problem was clearly defined, after extensive conversations with their logistics manager, the team of packaging consultants at Logistic Packaging set to find a solution.
The nature of the product demanded a packaging material made of safe raw materials – virgin polypropylene approved for food contact. The container has to be sturdy to withstand heavy load, but also have perforated walls to ensure proper ventilation.
The answer came to them naturally: the stackable industrial box with legs or skids.
Rigid Pallet Boxes: Ideal for Delicate Products
The industrial box recommended by the Logistic Packaging team incorporates all the features and benefits needed by the client:
- A sturdy build, capable of holding up to 500 kg static load and 4,000 kg stack load;
- Perforated side walls for ventilation;
- Smooth inner walls and corners to allow quick and efficient washing;
- Reinforced double-walled feet or skids;
- Made of polypropylene approved for food contact and resistant to acids and alkali liquids.
Together with the rigid pallet boxes, our team also recommended a necessary accessory: the plastic cover for pallet boxes.
A Sweet Deal
The client accepted our recommendations and we assisted them in making the transition from the wooden crates to the rigid pallet boxes. A few months after the implementation, the client reported a decrease in operational costs. The industrial boxes are easy and cheap to clean, compared to the wooden crates and so far they did not have to perform repairs on any of the packaging materials.
At the same time, the stackable rigid pallet boxes help them make better use of their storage facility and the package design with legs makes it easy for forklifts to handle them safely, without damaging either the container or the products inside.
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