GEFCO, a world-leading provider of multimodal supply-chain solutions, has signed an agreement with Airbus, a global leader in the aerospace sector, to support its transition to a leaner, more environmentally friendly supply chain. Building on more than 30 years of expertise in reusable packaging, GEFCO will gradually replace Airbus’ disposable packaging with reusable, foldable containers. This demonstrates both companies’ commitment to meeting the strictest environmental standards while boosting efficiency in the aviation sector.
Supporting the transition to reusable packaging
Since January 2019, GEFCO has been managing new Airbus reusable packaging designed to transport components from Airbus suppliers in Europe to 10 assembly plants in France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom. With more than 30,000 assets involved in the project, Airbus intends to gradually extend these sustainable solutions to all its European sites and suppliers.
This reusable packaging will enable Airbus to significantly reduce the quantity of disposable packaging in its supply chain, as well as the number of trucks on the roads, since the use of foldable boxes and containers helps optimize truck loading. This approach coincides with deep transformation in the aviation sector, which requires companies to continually improve their logistics performance while meeting high environmental standards.
Providing comprehensive packaging management across the supply chain
On a daily basis, six GEFCO packaging management centres handle the ordering, collection, loading and transport of reusable packaging. Airbus is also working with GEFCO’s asset auditing teams to train its operational teams in packaging management and the NETBOX IT system, which tracks the containers and provides delivery updates in real time. Training is also available to Airbus suppliers to support their transition to sustainable packaging.
GEFCO’s human and technical resources offer Airbus the highest traceability standards to boost its supply chain management, while helping improve processes across the industry.