LOEWE Logistics & Care GmbH, renowned for its precision, reliability, and customer focus, has established itself as a leading logistics company in Germany (locations in Herford and Bielefeld) and globally over the last 27 years. The company stands out for its efficient, tailored strategies, quick decision-making, and a dedicated team ensuring top-notch service daily.
Every day, a competent team of more than200 employees ensures that LOEWE is one of the most renowned logistics companies in Germany. The company is characterized by quick decision-making processes and tailor-made strategies. With experience in standard services, they are creative when it comes to meeting special requirements and are always fast and reliable.
Logistics service providers must constantly develop their processes in order to remain competitive in the long-term. LOEWE Logistics & Care GmbH therefore follows the development of new technologies very closely. This led them to reach out to Packsize, which resulted in the recommendation of a Packsize packaging system for Lufthansa to handle the shipping of WorldShop items (Miles & More). Vanessa Krüger, Project Leader Logistics at LOEWE in Herford, took over responsibility for a corresponding concept and the associated feasibility study at the end of 2015 following the initial visit. Together and in partnership, an efficient packaging process was developed, installed, and optimized.
Krüger managed the project with the main objectives of reducing the packaging volume, dispensing standard boxes, optimising the picking and packaging process, and reducing the consumption of corrugated cardboard and CO2 emissions for the environment.
The analysis and test phase lasted the whole of 2016. Process days were organized at the LOEWE warehouse in Herford, as well as visits and test workshops at the Packsize Solution Lab in Langenberg, Germany. Packsize sales manager and technical project manager Edwin Jonkman, who set up the process planning with LOEWE, led the change. The original challenge was to provide the employees at the packing stations with the best possible selection of standard boxes, with product ranges changing every six months. Krüger described the collaboration with Packsize as extremely constructive right from the start: "Everything was handled in a very cooperative way, deadlines were met, contacts were available and informative, and the hotline always provided the answers we needed."
LOEWE's most important goals included:
A little over a year and a half after reaching out to Packsize, the solution was implemented, featuring the EM7-25 custom box making machine. They also implemented a cross conveyor system which transported the tailor-made z-Fold® corrugated blanks to the packaging workstation for just-in-time, custom-sized packaging. This innovation eliminated the need for filler material and standard, stocked boxes, significantly contributing to sustainability and process optimisation.
Packsize Customer Manager Philipp Venjakob also found the collaborative approach to working on the project exceptionally constructive and well-structured. “We got to know and appreciate the LOEWE Logistics team, which allowed us to clarify a lot of implementation details, upfront, in the project phase,” Venjakob said.
Together with Packsize, LOEWE recently expanded the packaging process not only for the client Lufthansa Miles & More, but for several customers across the board with a comprehensively redesigned process involving the innovative automated X5. The process was completely developed from the "box-last principle" to a "box-first and pick-to-box concept". Packsize's X5 is supplemented by conveyor technology, an MDC (mobile data capture), optimized picking, a fully automatic box sealer, and the automated application of shipping labels.
As a result, up to 2,900 parcels a day can now be produced fully automatically, provided with a barcode, and erected ready for packing in quantities of one, i.e. all data for order processing comes directly from the LOEWE warehouse management system and is divided into optimal packages by Packsize's cubing software. LOEWE Quality Assurance initially checked all the geodata for the products again and revised it if necessary to ensure a smooth process.
In this way, each item/order receives a perfectly-sized shipping box, improving both sustainability and customer satisfaction.
LOEWE Logistics & Care GmbH increased the productivity of its production by implementing innovative Packsize solutions that create tailor-made packaging while reducing material usage, shipping costs, and shipping damage. As a result, the custom-fit shipping boxes offer long-term savings and benefits compared to standard boxes.
Corrugated cardboard and careful use of materials also make the entire supply chain more environmentally friendly and efficient. LOEWE and Packsize work together on continuous process optimisation and innovation to further reduce costs and environmental impact and to increase productivity, customer satisfaction and sustainability. More information about Loewe Logistics is available at www.loewe-logistics.de/.
