GEFCO has reduced cardboard waste disposal by 60% at its Psary branch near Wrocław by launching its own production of fillers for express shipments. This is a cost optimization, but above all, a nod to ecology in logistics and an improvement in warehouse working comfort. Thanks to these changes, most of the cardboard waste that was previously sent for paid disposal is now given a second life in new logistics processes.
The GEFCO warehouse in Psary near Wrocław is one of the largest Polish branches of the international logistics operator, housing a global distribution center for a leading manufacturer of automotive components and parts. Products for automotive cooling systems from all of the GEFCO client’s factories worldwide arrive in Lower Silesia. The cardboard waste comes from bulk packaging and cargo protection on pallets. This amounts to approximately 15 tons of cardboard per month, the disposal of which, in GEFCO’s assessment, was not efficient enough and generated additional costs.
Previously, the GEFCO client independently delivered its own paper for fillers made from paper blocks to the Psary warehouse. Meanwhile, all cardboard waste was manually loaded into containers placed outside the warehouse hall. Environmental considerations and prospects for savings prompted GEFCO to think about changes.
The challenge was to find an alternative solution and launch a process that would allow for the management of cardboard waste, its reuse, and a reduction in disposal costs. The initiative came from a shift manager who delegates warehouse employees to manually organize cardboard waste every day.
In the first phase of process modernization, GEFCO Psary conducted tests of a new machine producing fillers for express shipments. Producing a large amount of cardboard filler would not make sense if the demand for its use were low. Meanwhile, the GEFCO Psary branch manages the distribution of a huge number of express packages with automotive products to recipients from various continents every day, and filler is a primary necessity product.
– Our new shredder converts cardboard waste into excellent material for securing goods in transport. The process of loading a ton of cardboard waste into a container and producing a ton of filler is similar. However, we achieve savings on waste management costs. Furthermore, we have improved warehouse working conditions, relieving our employees of tedious work in difficult conditions – says Tomasz KLIMCZAK, manager of the GEFCO Psary branch near Wrocław. – Currently, we produce filler from about 60% of our cardboard waste. This is our nod to green logistics, which is embedded in GEFCO’s development strategy – he adds.
The practice of the Lower Silesian GEFCO branch has a chance to find followers in other warehouses of the logistics operator, which, like in Psary, generate a large amount of cardboard waste and manage the distribution of a large volume of goods.