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Save Green in your Distribution Center with Green Packaging Solutions

Jennifer Maloney
September 2, 2018

Numina Group’s Software and Technology to Reduce Waste and Wasted Steps with Green Packaging Solutions

Corporate initiatives to reduce plastic consumption have captured significant media attention as of late, and while the merits of initiatives like eliminating plastic straws can be debated, excessive plastic consumption is a serious issue.  Millions of tons of plastic waste end up in our oceans every year resulting in massive garbage patches.  One patch in particular known as the “Island of Trash” is larger than the state of Texas!

Plastic costs money, is oil based, and accumulates in our oceans. Profit oriented companies should look for every opportunity to reduce costs by going green and reducing plastic use in their supply chain.  Today, Both UPS and Fed Ex have rolled out environmentally friendly options for eco-friendlier shipping choices to reduce environmental impact.  Even with these initiatives, everyone in the world can remember receiving a parcel shipment with a plastic pouch containing a packing sheet on the outside, or a parcel shipment packed to the gills with plastic void fill.  Unfortunately use of non-recyclable void fill materials and inserting a packing sheet into a plastic pouch by Fed Ex and UPS is out of their control, but fortunately not out of the control of companies running their own distribution centers and using green packaging solutions.

Numina Group has a full suite of software and technologies that allow our customers to become part of the solution and reduce plastic waste that ends up in our oceans.  Our packing and shipping automation technologies will improve order fulfillment profitability in distribution centers by reducing plastic waste and increasing productivity.  Automation is a major contributor to corporate “green initiatives.”  Companies that reduce waste across the entire pick, pack, and ship process by implanting automation and will reduce their distribution center’s labor force by 35% to 50%.

What’s greener than eliminating all the daily cars fuel usage and traffic congestion caused by wasted labor in distribution operations?  The answer may be eliminating energy consumption across your distribution network by operating at a higher capacity than before in a reduced number of shifts, which is what happens what order fulfillment operations are improved with warehouse automation.  Additionally, you will no longer need to pay over time since all of the order volume is handled in a significantly shorter, significantly greener window.

  • RDS Cartonization Software reduces the shipment footprint, lowers corrugate and void fill consumption, and delivers best in class pick and pack to the shipping carton with 92% – 93% cube rate utilization!
  • Cartonization software logic greens-up shipping by eliminating shipment of under-filled parcel shipments, so you are no longer paying to ship air, and will reduce excessive void use, plus the additional pack labor to add additional void, which will reduce disability claims since high volume repetition of that task often results in carpal tunnel injuries.
  • Utilizing Cartonization to pick directly to the right size shipping carton eliminates plastic tote handling while reducing packing labor by over 50%, and when paired with RDS Voice Pick technology results in massive increases in picking productivity.
  • RDS Voice Pick and Pack technology drives 99.98% – 99.99% primary pick accuracy direct to the shipping carton and eliminates the need for secondary inspection labor.
  • Picking directly to shipping carton eliminates secondary touches, because cartons no longer are repacked, which eliminates double touching and repacking, with the added benefit of eliminating improper carton selection from operators guessing what box will fit an order best. Most companies have no idea how much incorrect operator carton selection is costing them per year!
  • Automated print and apply labeling with our exclusive pack slip-ship label automation prints and applies a combination packing slip-ship label, or prints, folds, and tucks a full 8.5” x 11” packing sheet under the perforated carrier shipping label, and eliminates plastic pouches, in addition to 40 – 45 second of labor from every shipment.
  • Numina Group’s One Step Plus print and apply labeling makes the “Packing list enclosed” plastic pouch a thing of the past, while also eliminating 40 – 45 seconds of labor from every parcel shipment. Our print and apply labeling automation prints and places a full 8.5” x 11” packing sheet or 4” x 6” packing slip directly under a removable shipping label, which means way less touches and no plastic!

One Step Plus™ automates one of the slowest and most manually intensive and prone to error tasks in order fulfillment.  Print and apply labeling systems should be combined with other in-line measurement technologies and pack automation such as weight audit, pack sheet print-fold-insert, auto or semi auto void insertion, carton tapers or auto carton lidding so customers can automate the entire pack and ship operation for maximum profitability increase.

Numina Group’s distribution automation and technologies are eco-friendly, and while “eco friendly” means green “eco friendly” here is also short for economically friendly, which means they are also “CFO-friendly.”  Our mission is to reduce operating costs, reduce labor steps, and improve your operation’s profit margins, making your operation more environmentally friendly while increasing profitability.  We will work with you to reduce waste and wasted steps, while cutting labor use and plastic consumption.  At the end of the day, incorporating green initiatives that make you money is a no-brainer.

Call (630) 343-2629 to talk to an engineer about the benefits of cartonization, print and apply labeling, other Numina Group technologies, or any areas of your order fulfillment operation experiencing inefficiencies and bottlenecks.