When you have a top national manufacturer working with one of America’s most popular fast-food chains, it’s reasonable to expect a dynamic and complex supply chain with dynamic challenges. The success of which hinges on supply chain efficiencies.
This industry-leading food manufacturer previously received adobo sauce for processing in five-pound bags. Handling the bags at the manufacturing plant was labor-intensive, time-consuming, and created a large amount of physical waste. Each five-pound bag of sauce had to be removed from the cardboard box it shipped in, opened individually, and dumped into a separate container for processing.
The company needed a way to receive the sauce safely while making it easier for their team to handle. In addition, supporting sustainability initiatives was key, and the manufacturer was looking to reduce significant amounts of cardboard and plastic waste.
While the challenge was complicated, the solution was simple: CHEP Pallecon 315-gallon IBC totes offer the largest weight capacity of any plastic collapsible liquid container, and feature best-in-class liquid liners to protect the adobo sauce during shipment. Along with delivering the sauce in bulk, the totes reliably deliver a host of benefits, from improving worker safety, reducing labor needed to remove product from the packaging, and reducing wasted product.
“With carryout food becoming increasingly popular, our customer sees a need to receive between 4,000-5,000 pounds of adobo sauce every day to meet consumer demands,” says the manufacturer’s on-site Production Manager. “By using Pallecon totes to ship sauce in bulk, rather than five-pound bags, we’ve simplified the entire process.”
This approach eliminates the need for an average of 4,800 bags every week, making a significant impact on the amount of physical waste produced in the supply chain. “It’s also a welcome change for the plant staff,” says the Production Manager, “Decanting a tote is quicker – and less physically taxing – than dealing with all those individual bags.”
Since Pallecon 315 IBCs are collapsible and designed to stack safely, the empty containers can be conveniently stored in a trailer on site until a full unit load is ready for pickup. The process further supports sustainability efforts by eliminating unnecessary miles and reducing the associated carbon footprint.
