Club 4 Paws
Premium food for cats and dogs
My love/Gav
Standard food for dogs
My Love/ Miau!
Standard food for cats
Master
Standard food for cat and dog
Optimeal
Super premium food for cats and dogs
A few microns save tens of thousands of euros per year: how Kormotech is carrying out a packaging optimization project
New global trends require rebuilding business processes and optimizing production. One such trend is sustainable consumption. Reducing waste, switching to environmentally friendly materials, and eliminating unnecessary operations help preserve a better world for future generations and represent a considerable resource for increasing efficiency and saving costs.
We use hundreds of types of packaging, raw materials, and several types of fuel. We undergo certification procedures in different markets and deal with complex logistics, exporting our products to 39 countries.
Therefore, we must optimize production costs and improve business processes.
The 3R system became our optimization project:
- Reduce - reducing waste and unnecessary operations/costs;
- Reuse - reusing;
- Recycle - suitability for reuse/recycling.
At the initial stages of the project, we:
- have found alternative suppliers and reviewed existing solutions with our partners;
- have started automating our internal packaging processes and enhancing transport packaging;
- have analyzed the packaging size to reduce the height of the packaging, inner wall thickness, and the area of the bottom of the bags so as not to put the safety and quality of the product at risk.
"For example, we used to make packaging with a safety margin and extra volume. Packaging for 1.5 kg could hold 2 kg," says Irina Kobryn, head of the supply department. "We reduced the density of one of the three layers of the bag wall, thoroughly testing the product inside. As a result of the project's implementation, such optimization of the packaging size will allow us to reduce the cost of the feed delivered to the customer and save up to 50,000 euros per year! We plan to scale these solutions to our packaging and products."
We have already implemented some of the innovations in packaging for the US market (Kormotech produces dry food packaging with a zipper at a lower height). The private labels' and My Love's brand bags use thinner inner wall packaging. We are currently introducing packaging with a reduced bottom area into mass production.
We have balanced production performance indicators and reduced the share of packaging materials costs in the cost of finished products. Packaging has become more sustainable and compact. We reduced delivery costs and saved resources and funds. The optimization project is ongoing.
There are still many goals ahead - we are working on automating packaging processes, optimizing cardboard packaging, and considering the broader use of biodegradable materials. Caring for a healthy environment is an integral focus of a socially responsible company.