Costing structures of reusable packaging systems

At present (September 95) there is a variety of interesting and more or less developed reusable packages, but the offer of additional services, such as return, maintenance, cleaning and management of containers and pallets, which are essentials for a reusable system, is still insufficient. To optimize packaging a company first has to decide between one-way and reusable systems. This decision cannot be taken generally. Only after an analysis of the respective enterprise-specific usage can it be decided if a reusable system or a combination of a one-way and a reusable system (e.g. for A articles) would be suitable and what should be the organisational structure. It is, however, important to set up a requirement profile for future reusable systems (apart from the quantitative evaluation) which should include the following aspects: development of pool systems, i.e. participation in existing systems; pool structures with standardized structures and processes; no isolated solutions; possible and flexible use of containers and pallets; standardisation and harmonization of reusable containers; organized return of containers; organized sorting, cleaning and management of containers; possible employment of an independent and superior operator.