Fit-for-purpose packaging technology saves space and money

Around 9.5 million cards are despatched each month from Hallmark's distribution centre in Bradford. As part of a review of its warehousing operations, Hallmark wanted to minimise empty running in an attempt to reduce transport costs and carbon emissions. Matthew Tillie, distribution operations manager, said: "A significant proportion of our trailers were carrying half-filled boxes. This was both environmentally and financially wasteful – hence our desire to explore technologies that could provide a more flexible solution to packaging." Hallmark now uses two Jivaro machines, from Sayoye, to tailor the boxes by trimming them to match volume/fill levels. This technology cuts packaging waste and reduces transport costs. Each unit can process up to 14 boxes per minute. Tillie adds: "While the Jivaro machines have reduced box sizes by just centimetres in most cases, this relatively small reduction really mounts up when you consider the average throughput of 4,000 boxes per day. "We believe the adoption of this technology has improved our transport efficiency by at least 25%, which has been achieved by the better use of trailer capacity."