Tag: Amazon

E-commerce and logistics – room for new concepts!

E-commerce will continue to grow, and that at the expense of traditional retailing. Online shopping will soon be the norm for shopping. The supply chain needs to adjust to this.

One man’s convenience is another man’s stress
One of the consequences of us shopping from home, or on-the-go using the phone, is a stressed logistics system. The result is visible, congested traffic and overloaded bottle necks.
The logistic system supporting online shopping can be divided in two steps. The first leg is from producer to a Customer Fulfillment Centre or CFC. The second is from the CFC to consumer. This is a very different supply chain from the traditional and we have all noticed the growing number of lorries on the roads. New innovative delivery methods are invented and tried out. Robots, drones and electrical vehicles of all kinds, self-driving and not. These solutions are mainly focused on the last mile delivery, that is from the customer fulfilment centre (CFC) to the consumer. This “last mile” transport can be organised in various ways, it can be home deliveries or to a pack-station at offices, supermarkets or in train stations.

Remarkable last mile solutions

Drones
Amazon introduced the concept of drone deliveries in 2016 and shared a few months ago a project update. They are still developing the concept and now showed us an increasingly sophisticated flying vehicle capable to deliver up to 90% of the packages they are delivering today. And safely too.
Wings has a similar solution but with a different spin.  They offer the same service, drone deliveries, but instead they link consumers to a range of local stores. An order is placed, and the drone picks up goods from the specified shop and delivers, all the way home. On trial in Australia, Finland and in the US.

Robots
Some drones are instead found moving around on the ground. In the UK, Tesco has started to deliver groceries using robots. A pilot test is located to Milton Keynes where Tesco is working with Estonian based robotics company Starship Technologies. A low 6-wheeled cart carries parcels, meals and groceries delivering to homes within a 3 km radius.
In the US Kiwibot is doing very much the same, home deliveries using robots, but in this case the 4-wheeled carts are bringing food from local restaurants. Also this is a concept in the building but it is inspiring to see all the creativity coming out to meet the demand for fast home deliveries.

The first leg of the supply chain
The above are solutions for shorter distances, the second leg of the supply chain. To get the goods from the producer to the CFCs lorries, train and boats are used, creating traffic overflow. That is until now. Until we heard of Magway.

British Magway has come up with the idea of building a network of pipes around the country. This planned grid of tubes, with a diameter of 90 cm, is supposed to carry goods, beneath and above ground. Instead of using trucks on the road, cargo will be sent around in pods in these tubes fitted with rails and powered by magnetism. An electric current will run through a track in the pipe, creating a magnetic wave that will drive the packed pods at speeds of 80 km/h.

Magway is an example of sustainable new thinking for a new era where consumers want their goods and that immediately. The normal distribution chain with goods-in-cases-and-on-pallets will with increasing online shopping soon not be the norm anymore.
Online shopping means that products are sent on their own or together with random other products. New methods are needed, and Magway has come up with a radical e-commerce delivery system that will reduce traffic on the roads and ease traffic congestion. The system promises reliable and predictable deliveries to CFCs and to a lower cost.

The first route planned is an 80 km route from northwest London to Milton Keynes, where large numbers of distribution centres are located. Already this year a 2 km test track will be built and tested.

This is an interesting period in time when online shopping is growing very fast and shoppers are expecting immediate deliveries. New solutions are really needed to gear up the supply chain for the new needs with lots of room for new thinking and developing of new concepts. All the above mentioned enterprises are going to be exciting to follow and I will absolutely keep an eye on all of them.

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It’s the season for Packaging Trends!

Towards the end of any year we have an avalanche of Packaging Trends and annual summaries coming in through the mailbox. Then at the end of a decade the number of summaries is doubled as we get both the Greatest Hits from 2019 and Top of the Pops from the last 10 years.

Please misunderstand me correctly, I like lists like everybody else, it’s just that the structure doesn’t necessary bring more clarity. The industry is wide and diverse and it’s hard to find the distinct trends, without obvious and significant contradictions.

First of all it’s not easy to define trends that are so general that they cover the industry, but yet specific enough to be interesting. The packaging industry is a complex one with many examples of conflicting developments and where few lines point in one and the same direction. Some are for example moving from plastics for sustainability reasons, at the same time others are moving into plastics to minimise greenhouse gasses. All depending on perspective.

The below are examples of real trends that are happening right now and are both general and specific enough but even so containing contradictions.

Plastics We can conclude that the main trend is towards using less plastics. There is clearly an increased demand for no-plastic, less-plastic, some-plastic and bio-plastic solutions. The reasons vary and are unfortunately not always fact based. The trend has got quite some media coverage and the SUP directive was recently voted through in the European Parliament to be implemented already in 2021. This is leading to intense activity to find viable alternatives to single use plastic items.

At the same time Amazon makes a shift from fibre-based shippers to plastic bags. A decision that could inspire and set a trend for the rest of the industry. Amazon refers to environmental benefits to back the decision, reduced consumption of energy and natural resources during production, reduced CO2 emissions, and fewer vehicles required during transportation.

Less Packaging The general trend is in one way towards using thinner material and less material, to save both the environment and cost. Some consumers are loudly demanding less packaging, but consumers are also increasingly shopping online.

E-commerce is fast growing on a global scale and is bringing on change for all involved in FMCG trading. One of these changes is that products are often distributed as single units or in combination with random other products. As opposed to traditional retailing when products are safely sent around in a tray or case sitting on a pallet. The result is that products in general needs more and protective packaging to arrive safely to destination.

Recyclable Or reusable or refillable or returnable, or even compostable…? We are certain that we want more recyclable packaging to be used. But first of all, we need the infrastructure to collect, handle and recycle the used packaging. Then it is really up to the individual consumer to use the system.

An alternative to throw away packaging waste is to return and refill the emptied packaging. Just like in the old days and Loop is a new concept on this path. Here a few of the leading global food and beverage manufacturers are joining forces with global recycling organization TerraCycle to create a circular shopping platform. 

Consumers order products that get delivered in a shipping tote instead of a box. Goods arrive in durable, reusable or fully recyclable packaging made from materials such as alloys, glass, and engineered plastics. Once the products are used, customers place empties back into the tote, schedule a free pick-up, and the system makes sure the products get automatically replenished. Brilliant.

Packaging is a traditional industry, that needs fresh ideas. In contradicting times, in particular, you need a steady stream of fresh ideas. Standing still is probably the worst option.

So, I wish you all a very happy and fast moving 2020.