The U.S. reusable packaging manufacturer is building a European operation around reusable containers, pallets and automation-ready packaging as PPWR and warehouse automation reshape logistics requirements.
Monoflo International is expanding its reusable transport packaging business in Europe with the establishment of Monoflo International GmbH, giving the U.S.-based manufacturer a more direct presence in a market being reshaped by both packaging regulation and warehouse automation.
The European operation will support customers and system integrators using Monoflo’s injection-molded containers, trays, pallets and foldable pallet boxes. Rather than positioning the venture simply as a European sales office, the company says it is developing local leadership along with a distributor and integrator network.
The timing brings together two trends that are becoming increasingly intertwined in reusable transport packaging. Europe’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation is putting greater emphasis on reuse, while continued investment in automated storage, retrieval and material handling systems is placing tighter performance requirements on the containers and pallets moving through those systems.
“This is a critical moment in the history of European logistics,” Andrew Rader, Monoflo’s managing director for Europe, said in announcing the expansion. He pointed to both PPWR and advances in warehouse automation as forces changing the requirements facing European logistics operations.
For reusable packaging manufacturers, automation can raise the stakes considerably. Containers moving through conveyors, automated storage systems and robotic handling equipment need predictable dimensions and consistent performance through repeated cycles. Monoflo is positioning its European offering around those requirements, including reusable containers and trays for automated intralogistics as well as pallets and foldable pallet boxes for transportation loops.
The company is initially targeting three broad European markets: automated systems and intralogistics; automotive and durable goods manufacturing and retail; and food and beverage distribution. Monoflo also emphasizes closed-loop material recovery, using plastic recovered from obsolete reusable packaging in new products where appropriate.
A European Strategy Already Underway
Although the European expansion was formally announced on September 18, Monoflo has been laying the groundwork for some time. The company exhibited reusable automation containers and other intralogistics packaging at LogiMAT in Stuttgart in March. German corporate records show Monoflo International GmbH was established with reusable injection-molded packaging, including containers, trays and pallets, as its stated business purpose.
More recently, Monoflo reported that products had arrived in Germany for European customers to see and test, including its Foldable Stack-Only automation container, attached-lid totes, bulk collapsible containers and pallets.
“We’re building a full, working European footprint, not just a sales office,” Bart Vandekerkhof, sales director for Europe, said. Monoflo is developing its distributor and integrator network with an eye toward helping customers select reusable packaging that works with increasingly automated distribution systems.
The expansion adds another established North American reusable packaging manufacturer to a competitive European market at a particularly interesting point in its development. PPWR is increasing attention on reuse at the same time that automation is making the engineering characteristics of pallets, totes and containers increasingly important.
Sources: Monoflo expansion announcement | Monoflo International | Additional European coverage
Rick LeBlanc, EMBA, is the founder and editor of Reusable Packaging News (subscribe to the free newsletter) and editor of Western Pallet Magazine. A supply chain journalist with more than 30 years of experience, he specializes in pallets, reusable packaging, material handling and related operations. Rick is co-author of Pallets: A North American Perspective and Pallets & Progress: A Collected History of Pallets and Palletized Handling 1922–1945. He is also an advisory board member of the Virginia Tech Center for Packaging and Unit Load Design. Read Rick’s full bio.