SAVE MONEY IN AIR FREIGHT

SAVE MONEY IN AIR FREIGHT

Lack of raw material for boxes and air freight availability problems have brought serious struggles for the flower industry worldwide. There´s not a clear idea of a specific time this would all be solved somehow so this basically forces us to build solutions among what´s possible for the industry to control.

3 main causes of the problem

Efficiency can always improve, and some alternatives have been explored but first we should look at the 3 main problems that cause inefficiency:

1.     Very few flowers inside the box: this is basically too much air inside the box due to a wrong box size for the order. Flowers are sold in unlimited ways: stems/bunch, sizes, lengths, colors, varieties, opening point, etc. This variability will naturally cause inefficiency in some of these different ways but if we don’t have the correct box options according to the orders, or at least most of the, this would keep the inefficiency as a problem.

Pic1. Not having the right box size causes inefficiency inside the box.

 

2.     Too many flowers inside the box: opposed to what we may think, overpacking is a serious problem. Box get inflated to a point where they not only occupy more space than they should, but they´re also more difficult to stack in an efficient way and the quality will also be affected since the resistance of the box design is lost.

Pic 2. Overpacked boxes occupy more space in an inefficient way.

               

     3.     Too much unneeded sizes: According to a study done by UC Davis, the industry worldwide has         more than 1000 box sizes. Many different box sizes respond to many different variables of product         and orders, so that’s not the problem itself, the problem is when you have boxes that are practically         the same size like in the next example:

  

	Length	Width	Height
Box 1	100 cm	32 cm	17 cm
Box 2	101 cm	30 cm	17.5 cm

 

These two boxes have less than 3% difference in volumetrically weight so it´s practically the same box. This problem is more frequent than we all think, and it affects majorly in a supply level as well as in a lack of efficiency in a market level due to a poor stacking of the boxes.

 

Pic 3. Too much unneeded sizes cause inefficiency at stacking.

So, what are the options?

1.     At farm level: good packaging is not only not overpacking, apart from having the right box size, it´s also a matter of good handling, avoiding the box getting wet, a proper packing method, etc. Poor handling causes box deformations thus loss of resistance in the box, so quality is majorly affected. Also, as mentioned before, overpacking would make the box to occupy more space (volume), thus more volumetrical weight, thus more cost. A plus here would be using the internal extra support designed by Qualisa a few years ago or the options available from packing suppliers.

 

2.     Freight forwarders & airlines: as a logistics player, freight forwarders & airlines have an important role around this problem. Identifying and measuring the total inefficiency problem is a good starting point. Seeking efficiency in air freight and packaging should be a continuous process rather than a single seasonal project.

 

3.     Flower buyer: Need more flowers inside a box? Don’t ask the farm to overpack, let’s find another size that fits most of your orders. Defining specific sizes can be challenging due to all the different types of flowers and orders they exist but, some minimal data analysis here could bring lots of benefit to your transport costs.

 

4.     Market level: like in the Tetris game, to achieve a proper consolidation of boxes from different sources, the best scenario is to have a common measure between the pieces. There´s a major opportunity here to have a consensus among the height of the boxes. Even if width and length keep being variable, having a consensus among the height could have a great impact in the stacking of boxes and consequently in the way space is occupied. Whether it’s a warehouse, cargo hold of a plane, customs warehouse, or cold room in the farm, pieces with a common height will be better stacked. This doesn’t mean there has to be just one measure for height, but if 2 QBs stack up to the height of 1 HB, there will be a major change in space occupation.

 

5.     Communication at all levels: data sharing, efficiency measuring and consensus over sizes (at least height) can be done by every player in the flower industry. Not all decisions about box sizes are in the grower side, nor in the market side.

 

The overall challenges are to identify the correct numbers, consider the variables (product + orders), find close options, and most important, reach some agreements among colleagues and suppliers. Expoflores will work strongly on this topic in the first semester of 2022. Let us know your ideas, send your data and let’s work together in real solutions for the industry.