Packaging and Logistics
Environmental burdens can result from the use of fuel in the course of distributing products and parts, and through the use of packaging materials. Olympus is working to bring our activities into harmony with the environment from the perspective of logisticsNote1.
Note1: Logistics is an integral part of the supply chain. Simply put, it is the efficient and progressive flow of goods, including storage and services, from the point of production to the point of consumption to meet customer needs, and the planning, implementation and control of information relating to these processes.
Reducing Environmental Load by Optimizing Packaging and Logistics
Olympus monitors CO2 emission levels resulting from both domestic and international logistics and uses the resulting data to reduce CO2 emissions through measures that include changes to the transportation modes used and the improvement of loading ratios.
Transportation-related CO2 emissions in fiscal 2008 amounted to 90,890 t-CO2, a reduction of 24% from the fiscal 2007 level. Reasons for this reduction include the expansion of our modal shift from air to marine transportation for international shipments, and the reduction of transportation weights through the development of lighter and more compact products and packaging.
We will continue to target further reductions in transportation-related CO2 emissions by expanding the modal shift, reducing product weights and sizes, and improving packaging.
Transportation in Japan
International transportation
The Olympus packaging & logistics system is divided into product logistics and parts logistics. We are making great efforts to reduce the environmental load from the 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) viewpoint in developing compact and lightweight packaging, reducing the number of packaging materials used, and developing returnable packaging containers made using recycled materials, in light of the characteristics of the products and parts to be transported.
We are also surveying and analyzing the actual effects (impact, vibration, temperature, and humidity) on products and parts while products are being delivered to customers, in the international transportation environment. We aim to optimize packaging and logistics to avoid difficulties and waste by reviewing the company's packaging and cargo test methods and packaging design standards based on the results of these analyses.
Measures to Reduce the Environmental Load due to Packaging and Logistic
Reducing Packaging through New Technology
The new pulp injection mold (PIM) technologyNote2 developed by Olympus reduces the amount of packaging required and facilitates reuse and recycling. It is also free of harmful substances.
We have confirmed the following benefits resulting from the application of this technology to packaging materials for precision equipment.
(1) Because materials can be molded into the required shape in a single process, there is greater design freedom, and packaging materials can be assembled more easily.
(2) Shock-absorption performance can easily be controlled by adjusting the composition of the materials.
At the prototype stage, Olympus has successfully used this technology to achieve reductions of 10-20% in packaging weight and volume. The use of this packaging technology is expected to reduce the amount of CO2 emitted during packaging manufacture and transportation to between one-third and one-half of levels with conventional styrene and containerboard packaging.
Comparison of Environmental Loads with Conventional Packaging Based on Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) Note3 Analysis
The data for the PIM technology were estimated by Olympus based on production-related observations. LCI analyses for packaging methods other than PIM were estimated using statistics published by related organizations, including the Plastic Waste Management Institute and the Japan Business Machine and Information System Industries Association.
Note2: PIM is an injection molding technology whereby shapes are formed by filling molds with materials made from paper, starch and water and then cooling them. The materials are antistatic and heat-resistant and can be molded into shapes just 0.2mm thick. The basic technology was jointly developed by the Yokoi Laboratory at the Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo, Daiho Industrial Co., Ltd. and Nissei Plastic Industrial Co., Ltd.
Olympus carried out applied research concerning the use of PIM technology to reduce packaging volumes as a member of the PIM Consortium, which was established under the auspices of the Foundation for the Promotion of Industrial Science to explore applications for the new technology.
Note3: This is an LCA method used to compile input-output accounts relating to environment load items, using data for resource and energy inputs and production or product and waste outputs.
Development and Introduction of Returnable Containers for Repaired and Replaced Products
In the past, medical equipment requiring repairs and replacement equipment were generally transported to and from medical institutions in disposable containers. However, there had been calls from warehouse operators, sales outlets and medical institutions for the development of packaging that would facilitate the unwrapping process. Another priority was the reduction of the amount of packaging materials used. Olympus Medical Systems Corporation and the Logistics Development Department of Olympus Corporation developed a new type of returnable container. Because the containers are reusable, less packaging materials are used, and the work involved in opening packages has also been reduced. Since the introduction of the new container, we have reduced the amount of cushioning materials and corrugated cardboard used each year by 90,000 liters and 1.5 tons respectively.
Advantages
Compared with the old method, the new containers provide not only environmental benefits, but also improve performance in terms of transportation quality, ease of use, and simplicity.
| Category | Old method | Returnable containers |
|---|---|---|
| Environmental | Exterior packaging: Corrugated cardboard Interior packaging: plastic foam (discarded after one use) |
Exterior packaging: Plastic corrugated board Interior packaging: Stretch film Use of packaging materials reduced through use of long-life returnable containers |
| Transportation quality | Unchanged | |
| Ease of packaging items for repair | Time-consuming | Time reduced through use of magic bands |
| Simplicity of use and ease of packaging and unpacking in medical institutions | 70 different packaging formats, time-consuming | Packaging formats reduced from 70 to 3, time reduced through use of magic bands, reduced complexity through use of common system |
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