EFFICIENT UNIT LOADS - ECR Community

Efficient Unit Loads
A unit load consists of a group of products put
together to facilitate transport and handling. This
includes secondary items such as cardboard boxes and
plastic trays, which group or package primary products
and tertiary items such as pallets and roll cages, which,
in turn, group secondary items. Primary products are
not considered in this report, except in the way they
impact on secondary and tertiary item design.
Definitions for secondary, tertiary and primary
packaging levels are given in Appendix 1. Unit loads
represent a key cost driver since they impact on
transport, storage, handling and packaging, estimated
to account for 12–15% of retail sales price.
Figure 3: Efficient Unit Loads cost impact
Consumer Price (excl. VAT)
Retailer
20.2%
4.4%
2.5%
Manufacturer
79.8%
11.0%
4.8%
22.0%
6.5%
48.8%
100%
Retailer and manufacturer
total cost chain
Purchasing, Sales, G&A
In-store materials management
To-store materials management
G&A, Sales and Marketing
Source: A.T. Kearney Survey, Efficient Unit Loads project
Key Area
Retailer Cost Impact
Handling Storage
Transport
Key Area
Manufacturer Cost Impact
12 – 15%
Distribution
Packing/palletising
Raw material to primary packaging
1.5 – 2.0%
3.5 – 4.5%
0.5 – 0.7%
4.0 – 4.5%
2.0 – 2.5%
0.5 – 0.8%
Efficient Unit Loads cost
impact in % of consumer
sales price (excl. VAT)
Space Utilisation
Handling Efficiency
Other
} 5.5 – 7.2% Retailer
} 6.5 – 7.8% Manufacturer
The Efficient Unit Loads Report 13