Welcome to the July 15th issue of Warehouse & Logistics News. Well done to packaging specialist Allpack, which has unveiled its new range of plastic-free, recyclable, and multi-trip packaging cartons, and is looking for e-commerce partners to participate in a nationwide trial. Boomerang is an all-new, plastic-free, multi-trip, returnable solution that gives a great unboxing experience and, when required, a simple return process. Initial trials have shown a dramatic reduction in voidfill use, improved distribution volumetrics, and a cleaner faster returns process for the retailer.

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Congratulations to EnerSys, the global leader in stored energy solutions for industrial applications, which is transforming material handling operations with the addition of high-performance NexSys iON batteries to its power solution portfolio. The batteries are engineered with sustainable Nickel Manganese Cobalt (NMC) large format prismatic cell chemistry, delivering high energy capacity in a smaller footprint.

Great to hear that the UK’s largest provider of lorry tension curtains, Structure-flex, has seen its busiest spring on record thanks to increased demand for its industry-leading products. Sales rose significantly compared to the same period in spring 2019, prior to the pandemic. The increase is believed to be a result of last month’s re-opening of both the retail and hospitality sectors after the UK’s most recent lockdown.

Any user of pallets has to choose between wooden or plastic pallets, says our pallets and containers feature. Wooden packaging uses less energy, is easily repaired and can be recycled, while plastic pallets are hugely resilient, hygienic and recyclable. Whether they are supplying wood or plastic pallets, it is encouraging to see the pallet providers continuing to innovate, keeping goods moving to the end user.

I.T. is a critical ally of the logistics supply chain, especially in omnichannel fulfilment and reverse logistics. Effective returns management in e-commerce requires an efficient warehouse management system (WMS) to handle inventory and order management, according to our warehouse I.T. feature. It is encouraging to see I.T. companies constantly innovating, helping the logistics industry overcome whatever hurdles it faces and deliver the best service for consumers.

The volatility of the e-commerce marketplace has been emphasised recently with unforeseen consequences for businesses slow to adapt. The pandemic has illustrated the importance of a flexible logistics operation while the continued reign of e-commerce over physical shop fronts necessitates investment into sophisticated packing solutions. Even before the pandemic, outsourcing was growing at a prodigious rate, but over the last sixteen months the trend has accelerated to such an extent that the industry is now light years ahead of where it would have been organically, our packaging feature reports.

If you’re still gasping for more football excitement after the Euros, see the centre spread of the magazine for a Premier League 2021/22 fixture list, provided by UPN.

Enjoy reading the issue.

James Surridge

Publishing Editor

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