Reusable Packaging Has Saved Toyota’s North American Parts Operations $1 Billion

Over 60,000 reusable metal shipping containers are used by Toyota’s North American Parts Operations division in place of cardboard and wood pallets, up from only 30,000 just a few years ago. These returnable containers are used between selected North American parts distribution centers and vehicle distribution centers, dealers and suppliers. The returnable containers are also used increasingly for shipments to Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico. Over 120 of Toyota’s North American suppliers also use returnable containers.

More than 95 percent of the North American parts at Toyota’s Kentucky and Texas plants are currently received in returnable packaging. During fiscal year 2012, Toyota avoided the use of 37 million pounds of wood and 13 million pounds of cardboard due to the use of returnable shipping containers. Since the use of these containers began in 2001,  cumulative savings for Toyota’s North American Parts Operations  amount to over 129 million pounds of wood and 48 million pounds of cardboard, as well as packaging cost savings approaching $1 billion.

Source for all information: Toyota

Rick LeBlanc

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.