Since January this year, GEFCO has been managing the new Airbus reusable packaging designed to transport the components from Airbus suppliers in Europe to 10 assembly plants in France, Germany, Spain and the UK
Image: GEFCO signs to manage reusable packaging deal with Airbus. Photo: courtesy of GEFCO.
French multimodal supply chain solutions company GEFCO has signed an agreement with Airbus to manage the latter’s reusable packaging for a sustainable supply chain.
Under the agreement, GEFCO will gradually replace the disposable packaging of Airbus with reusable, foldable containers to support the aircraft manufacturer’s transition to a leaner, more eco-friendly supply chain.
The French supply chain solutions firm has been managing the new Airbus reusable packaging since January this year. The packaging has been designed to transport the components from Airbus suppliers in Europe to 10 assembly plants in France, Germany, Spain and the UK.
With more than 30,000 assets involved in the project, Airbus aims to extend the use of reusable packaging to all of its European sites and suppliers.
The reusable packaging will allow Airbus to reduce the quantity of disposable packaging in its supply chain
GEFCO sales & marketing executive vice president Emmanuel Arnaud said: “We are very proud of the trust Airbus has placed in us and we are delighted to bring our unique reusable packaging expertise to this ambitious project.
“Our international network of experts and our renowned operational skills, particularly in the automotive sector, enable us to confidently take up this challenge with a partnership approach, in line with our ‘Partners, unlimited’ brand signature.”
GEFCO also said that the use of reusable packaging will allow Airbus to reduce the quantity of disposable packaging in its supply chain.
It will also reduce the number of trucks on the road as the use of foldable boxes and containers optimise truck loading.
Additionally, Airbus is working with the company’s asset auditing teams to train its operational teams in packaging management and the NETBOX IT system.
NETBOX is a dedicated IT system, developed by GEFCO, which monitors the containers and provides delivery updates in real-time. Based on the data in the system, container location and their movements can be adjusted at any time.