Ecommerce growth enables BSN to break ground for 2020 Guangzhou factory and more
BSN, a one-stop solution provider for RFID and supply chain technology, announces a successful year of industry growth, employee retention, and production expansion, despite the disruptive impact of the global pandemic. Whilst navigating the challenging economic and social environment, the company broke ground on its new RFID Production and Innovation center, representing BSN’s aims to increase investment in RFID technology for 2021. Industry Growth At the start of 2020, the growth of E-commerce looked to be threatened, having achieved an increase of 13% at the end of 2019. However, despite the ever-present uncertainty over the last 12 months, digital spending has outpaced the previous year with an annual growth of more than 100%. Today, e-commerce sales account for 28% of all retail purchases. This steadfast pace and growth of the E-commerce industry have encouraged BSN to break ground on its new BSN RFID Technology Centre in Guangzhou, China. The construction of the new production base represents BSN’s dedication to increase investment in RFID Innovation, expand production, and strive to provide more high-quality, fast, and comprehensive services to global customers in 2021. Navigating COVID-19 This year has seen BSN, along with the rest of the world, navigate through the COVID-19 crisis. With the heightened demand for Ecommerce, huge challenges for supply chain and logistics operations have followed. With omnichannel capabilities becoming a preferred option for consumers, services like Door-step delivery, Buy Online Pickup In-store (BOPIS) and Curbside Pickup (CSPU) have taken preference, leading to an impact on product availability and lead times. The global pandemic has also resulted in all-time-high unemployment, with many of BSN’s competitors making redundancies at the factory level. BSN has been able to buck the trend, stay steady and take care of its factory workers during a time where it was crucial to nurture employees at every level, not one person was let go due to the pandemic. Where possible, team members work at home, if not, factory adjustments have been made to incorporate safe social distancing. The New Normal Looking forward to 2021, BSN aims to take a ‘new normal’ approach post-COVID. The pandemic has highlighted the need for item visibility through every phase of the supply chain. The company has developed its Trysor RFID solutions which focus on e-commerce and omnichannel strategies, providing real-time item-level visibility from Vendor to Door-Step. With retailers beginning to recognize the value in RFID technology, there will be new heights of innovation coming over the next year. “Over the last year, the pandemic has challenged us not only as a company but as individuals. We are proud to have been able to use these challenges as an opportunity to show our dedication to our team members and our customers, by adapting to changing consumer behaviors,” comments Philip Calderbank, RFID Consultant at BSN. “Our company can only grow from here, with fresh innovations and possibilities coming out of the new Technology Centre. It is a testament to our business and we are primed to hit the ground running in 2021.”
PACT promotes Josh Mort to General Manager
Industry veteran to oversee all departments for shipping solutions provider as packaging volumes continue to peak PACT, LLC, an innovator of packaging and crating technologies, has promoted Josh Mort to General Manager. In this position, Josh will be responsible for managing all of PACT’s departments including production, sales, and growth initiatives as more product manufacturers seek lighter, sustainable and durable shipping solutions with the number of packages shipped continuing an upward trajectory. Josh has been with PACT since 2012. Throughout his tenure, he has been in charge of daily office functions, offering his expertise to responsibilities including accounting, customer service, planning, purchasing, and accounts payable. Prior to joining PACT, Josh worked for Fastenal Industrial Supply, where he was responsible for managing inventory control as well as overseeing big-ticket customer deliveries. “We are excited to have Josh as PACT’s General Manager,” said Roger Mort, president of PACT. “His in-depth knowledge of our products and processes, as well as his experience in the industrial packaging and shipping industries, are invaluable and will undoubtedly be an asset in his new role.” Among other novel shipping solutions, PACT recently introduced Thermo Shield™, a paper-based, fire-resistant shipping wrap designed to prevent catastrophes caused by battery explosions during transport. Utilizing a technology that actively and automatically cools the internal environment of a corrugated container, the paper-based, 100% recyclable protective logistics product prevents damage to the outside shipping container, suppresses fumes or gasses from escaping, and limits external oxygen supply. The company also is known for its patented J-Crates – customized corrugated crating solutions offering reduced shipping costs, maximization of warehousing space, and increased sustainability.
Harpak-ULMA launches Bakery and Confectionery Market Initiative
Announces hire of Josh Becker to lead the effort Harpak-ULMA just announced the launch of a new North American initiative to help the bakery and confectionery market improve flexibility and operational performance in response to COVID-19 business disruptions. While some producers are dealing with plummeting demand for some products, others are experiencing unprecedented spikes. Such significant production volume fluctuations place substantial pressure on both labor and packaging assets, a condition that may well represent the new normal for the foreseeable future. Harpak-ULMA is the North American arm of ULMA Packaging, a leading global packaging OEM with a substantial global customer base in bakery and snacks. Its new bakery and confectionary market initiative, announced today, will leverage ULMA’s extensive global market segment presence, combined with smart, connected packaging platforms, to help bakery and confectionary producers do more and go faster under adverse and rapidly changing conditions. The agility and flexibility that smart, connected operational models deliver have been highlighted by the dramatic marketplace upheavals wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic. While producers seek a degree of operational normality, those that continue to rely on past operating practices may well find themselves rapidly losing competitive ground. Smart, connected packaging platforms, combined with advanced automation, help producers more easily adapt to new, shared realities: they are easier and faster to integrate, maintain, scale, or repurpose. Harpak-ULMA also recently announced that it is embedding Augmented Reality (AR) capabilities for service instructions, staff training, and remote support in its platforms. The combination of market and technological expertise is a powerful advantage, according to Josh Becker, the company’s newly appointed Market Segment Product Manager. “Unfortunately, much of today’s bakery packaging operations are dependent on manual processes, diverse systems, and even significant IT system gaps. That translates into inflexibility, data inconsistency, duplicated work, rigid processes, and poor scalability. COVID-19 highlighted those limitations, but at the same time, it is accelerating executive adoption of digital and automation-focused technologies. It’s simple really – better data, when and where needed, makes it possible to go after and solve the ‘big rocks’ in Bakery Packaging,” he said. Becker noted that includes not just new COVID-driven package format issues – such as individualized, sterile packages — but long-standing challenges such as continuous optimization of line Operational Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). The pandemic’s impact on labor emphasizes automation’s potential to reduce the risks associated with manual-labor dependency and process variations and its ability to scale throughput performance. “It’s my experience that to ensure reliable, high OEE performance, automation must be carefully orchestrated both in the packaging line and with the production operations that feed it,” Becker notes. “This is one of Harpak-ULMA’s clear differentiators, and it will prove key to our North America market expansion. Having been on the customer side of the relationship, I’m familiar with some of the more entrenched segment competitors. When you evaluate Harpak-ULMA across factors such as Total Cost of Ownership, OEE, Equipment Life Cycle, and Customer Service Support, we simply are going to provide a better value proposition.” Becker also noted that Harpak-ULMA has seen executive interest spike in advanced digital technologies, such as AR’s visual work instructions, visual-interactive remote support, and real-time performance monitoring using mobile devices such as phones or tablets, since the COVID-19 onslaught began in March 2020. Becker previously served in various senior engineering and leadership roles at Frito Lay, Kraft Foods, Bimbo Bakeries, and most recently, as The Hershey Company’s operational lead for its North American Packaging Systems Engineering Group. He is a well-known author and speaker for the packaging industry. In his new role, Mr. Becker will be responsible for replicating ULMA’s global footprint in the bakery and confection markets in North America. Kevin Roach, President and CEO of Harpak-ULMA, expressed his admiration and high expectations for this critically important role. “Josh brings a demonstrated level of expertise and senior leadership to this important initiative. While we have seen reasonable success to date, I believe bringing a new level of focus to this market segment will help us deliver the best possible value to cost ratio for customers. We are quite pleased he decided to make Harpak-ULMA the next step in his career,” he said.