Czech automotive packaging specialist Omnipack is using ARPRO expanded polypropylene to produce up to 15,000 dunnage trays a year for the country’s automotive industry. The reusable trays, which are designed to protect a variety of parts in transport from suppliers to vehicle assembly lines, are around seven times more cost-effective than the cardboard packaging previously used, while offering significant environmental benefits.
The trays, which are up to 1,400mm by 1,000mm in size, but only one kilo in weight, travel between the supplier and its customer 50 times each year. The material used needed to be lightweight and easy to handle, yet robust enough to last for the full production life of a vehicle. To protect the parts in transport it also needed to isolate them from vibration and prevent the ingress of moisture.
“The quality advantages of the new trays continue right to the production line,” says Pavel Ridký of Skoda Auto.
Unlike cardboard packaging, ARPRO dunnage trays are dust-free in use, which minimises problems of part contamination during vehicle assembly. Over its five-year life, each tray is expected to replace up to 250 sets of non-reusable packaging, while light weight helps reduce fuel consumption on both the delivery and return journeys. At the end of their life, the trays are fully recyclable.
“Reusable packaging is an increasingly important element in many supply chains,” says Paul Compton, JSP’s executive vice president and chief operating officer – Europe. “For many of our customers, ARPRO provides a solution the other materials just can’t match.”
