Global e-Commerce sales are projected to top $4 trillion by 2020, according to eMarketer. This rate of growth means that both brands and logistics companies face a pressing need to make product packaging as efficient, cost-effective and sustainable as possible. To support these goals, UPS and Sealed Air Corp. have opened a 6,000-square-foot Packaging Innovation Center, located on the UPS Supply Chain Solutions campus in Louisville, Ky.
The packaging technology on display includes:
• An automated system that eliminates the need for outer cartons, which can reduce dimensional weight by as much as 87%;
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• An automated right-sizing system that eliminates empty void space in each box by as much as 60%; and
• A portfolio of packaging work-cell solutions that improve labor productivity, reduce product damage and create a consistent, enhanced experience for the end consumer.
The two companies also will use the Center to provide consulting services, including performance analysis to ensure that companies are using the minimum amount of packaging needed to achieve maximum product protection.
“The at-home delivery experience is more important than it has ever been” said Jerome Peribere, President and CEO of Sealed Air in a statement. “Consumer expectations for fast, free, on-time delivery leave businesses and retailers with very little room for error. The partnership between Sealed Air and UPS allows us to combine our decades of expertise and innovation to help our customers create those exceptional delivery experiences from the point of manufacturing all the way through to the last moment of truth in front of the consumers.”
The Packaging Innovation Center is the next step in the UPS-Sealed Air partnership that was announced in November 2016. Sealed Air also participates in the UPS Customer Technology Program, a customer loyalty program that connects business with vendors of hardware, software, peripherals — and now packaging — to help them gain efficiencies and enable growth.
