Meat + Poultry - June 2004 - 41

ADVERTORIAL

Cost-Saving Initiatives
With the need for cost control looming larger in purchasing, production and finance managers, the
today's tough economy, IP is showing customers project examined every element related to corrugated
the way to significant savings. For example, its packaging:
package design and materials,
innovative application of the "Total Cost of Ownership" procurement, freight, box erection, storage, use,
concept moves well beyond the traditional steps of damage, recycling, and waste. Approximately 40
product-line consolidation and
hours were spent in each of 12
Major Cost Areas of TCO plants evaluating product flows,
package-design modifications.
The combination of specific
packaging practices and labor
Packaging Labor
36.2 %
industry expertise and analytic
efficiency.
Many more hours
Other Packaging Materials 30.8 %
objectivity has identified potential
went into determining costs and
Corrugated Materials
17.2 %
packaging-cost reductions of
identifying potential savings on a
Box
Room
Costs
6.1
%
up to 17 percent for the poultry
plant-by-plant basis.
Inventory Costs
2.4 %
industry. TCO can yield similar
benefits in the red meat sector.
The results revealed a "potential
Tub Wash
2.3 %
savings treasure," said Joe Finch,
All Other
2.3 %
IP's
groundbreaking
TCO
Director of Marketing for IP's U.S.
Clerical & Procurement Costs 0.9 %
study, executed with the help
Container Business.
Some
Pallets
0.9
%
of Agrimetrics Associates, Inc.,
suggestions were as simple as
Maintenance
0.9 %
focused on five of the poultry
switching to reusable combo
industry's largest companies.
bins for ice. Others involved
100.0 %
Together, the five companies
investing in robotic palletizers.
spend a total of $179 million a year on packaging- The estimated total for potential reduction was $12.5
related costs, with $53.2 million, nearly 30 percent, million in packaging-related costs - an average of
directly related to corrugated packaging. Enlisting more than $1.04 million for each of the 12 plants.

Making Smarter Packages
IP isn't just about making better packages - it's
also dedicated to making smarter packages. Radio
Frequency Identification (RFID) is starting to
provide a major operational change in supply chain
and inventory management. An electronic product
code that can track products throughout the entire
supply chain pinpoints locations, provides inventory
accuracy and theft detection, improves shelf
replenishment, offers anti-counterfeiting and brand
protection, and more. IP's business-bridging Smart
Packaging unit, which is at the leading edge of this
emerging technology, is already putting it to work for
container customers.
But successfully implementing an RFID system is
no simple matter. IP has partnered with ESYNC,
a supply-chain consulting and systems-integration
company, in a unique Strategic Assessment
Program that helps customers determine where and

how to implement RFID systems. After analysis,
the program delivers recommendations based on
business value, including pilots to validate technical
performance and process improvement associated
with the system's design. One main deliverable is
the provision of Electronic Product Code compliance
for Wal-Mart and U.S. Department of Defense
supplier directives.
Customers can also contact IP's RFID Customer
Solution Center in Memphis, Tennessee, for RFID
certification, plus access to the latest RFID reader
and tag technology, including portal and dock
door readers, high-speed conveyor readers and
unique fork-lift-based RFID solutions. To ensure
tag readability, the Center provides complete
handling, distribution and environmental-condition
testing, including impact, vibration, compression,
temperature and humidity.
36e

Meat + Poultry - June 2004

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