CASE STUDY No. 9636
KEY WORDS GLASS, SHELVES--BULK SHIPMENT
General Electric Corp.
301 N. Curry Pike
Bloomington, IN 47404
Contact: Steven J. Marks or Jeff Smith, Environment, Health & Safety. Tel: 812-334-9422. Fax: 812-334-9653.
Summary
By substituting reusable steel frames for bulk shipment of glass shelves for refrigerators, 157 tons per year of wooden frames and cardboard boxes are eliminated, reducing damage losses, handling, and disposal expense by about $50,000 a year.
Action
GE assembles and ships nearly 940,000 refrigerators per year at the Bloomington plant. The company was experiencing an unacceptable level of damage to the glass it received in bulk from a supplier in Vincennes, Indiana, approximately 72 miles distant. Analysis showed that damage occurred primarily due to the use of wooden crates and wooden dunnage, which permitted some shifting of the load during truck transport.
Discussions with the glass supplier, Gentron Corp., revealed the vendor's similar interest in reducing costs and losses. Thus a search was initiated for a suitable new crating system. Gentron agreed to cover the upfront cost and to recover the cost later as part of its pricing structure to GE.
A reusable steel frame was designed and tested and put into service. It measures 52 x 45 x 51 inches and is sized for direct palletization. Each frame has a capacity of 1,000 pieces of refrigerator shelf glass. Empty frames deadhead back to Gentron on the same truck used for delivery.
This change in bulk shipping container has saved GE more than $50,000 in combined savings from reuse of the bulk container, reduction in product damage, disposal of single-use wooden crates and corrugated cardboard, and the associated labor. Waste disposal tonnage dropped by 157 tons.
Another change in shipping routine is under evaluation. It would entail replacing the wooden lath and steel strapping presently used to secure glass plates to the steel frame, with plastic shrink-wrap, further reducing the volume of waste. In addition, the full sheets of butcher paper presently used to separate individual sheets of glass would be replaced by 1-inch diameter, stick-on tabs.
Payback
The one-time cost of steel frame construction will equal the cost of equivalent single-use wooden crates and dunnage in about 12 months.
Other benefits
