Haulotte makes spare parts distribution more sustainable

Haulotte recommends use of its own spare parts with its machines, it says, “Only genuine Haulotte spare parts are designed to work with your machines seamlessly. They are tested to ensure user safety, absolute reliability, an optimized service life, and residual value of your machines.”

Haulotte’s logistics network is structured to meet the requirements of customers on all continents. A network of 8 logistics platforms ensures rapid shipment anywhere in the world. Meeting the environmental challenges related to the supply chain is not an easy task. Even if the carbon footprint of a spare part can’t be limited to its storage and transit, those two items can be improved to reduce the final footprint of the spare part once delivered to the customer.

With this in mind, Haulotte’s supply chain department for spare parts has been working on a number of process improvements. Its objective to reduce the ‘pollution’ factors upstream and downstream, without reducing the efficiency of shipments and the performance of packaging.

The 70 strong team, led by Guillaume Mercier, worldwide service supply chain manager, has implemented several actions:

1. Recycled, recyclable and reusable packaging

Soon all shipments of less than 30kg to Europe will use this new range of packaging that comes in several shapes and sizes featuring raw cardboard made from paper from FSC certified forests.

The main feature of these new packages is that they have almost no marking and printing, thus encouraging the recipient to reuse them for a future shipment or any other use that would offer a second life to the package.

The minimal printing is done with water-based inks and the adhesive strips securing the shipping cartons are also made of paper, thus facilitating the recycling of the whole package

2. Reuse of received packages

All Haulotte logistic platforms practice a nearly systematic reuse of all packaging (cardboard boxes, packing paper) in which they receive spare parts.

These boxes are reused for delivery to final customers after they have been checked and if they meet the shipping constraints.

3. Adapted and improved protections

Whenever possible, the elements used to secure and protect parts, usually made of plastic, have been replaced by 100% recyclable paper and cardboard elements.

For the most fragile parts, it is sometimes difficult to find packaging made of paper and cardboard that also provides optimal protection for the part. In this case, packaging made of biosourced plastics is preferred.

The Supply Chain teams are working to improve all the elements of cushioning and packaging so that in the end, the package received and the protective elements are entirely recyclable.

Another notable improvement has been to adapt the size of the shipping cartons to the shape of the spare parts. For example, for the shipment of guardrails: the size of the part required a very large box and a full pallet, resulting in high shipping costs.

The Supply team worked to create a customised box with the exact dimensions of the guardrails, thus reducing the volume of the box shipped and eliminating the pallet.

This adaptation has cascading benefits: less volume = less pallet = less ground or air transport = a reduced carbon footprint

4. Change the type of shipment

For all large and heavy parts, the choice of shipping methods has been changed to reduce the environmental impact of shipments. Previously, most large parts were shipped by air in small quantities. Now the Supply team ships them in larger quantities. This change impacts the spare parts inventory of all Haulotte logistics hubs.

These changes have made it possible to considerably reduce the carbon footprint associated with these shipments.

Continuing its efforts in favour of the environment

In the coming months, the Supply Chain teams of the 8 Haulotte logistics hubs will continue their efforts to implement improvements in the storage and logistics of spare parts.

Among the prospects mentioned:

• Remove plastic strapping as much as possible. The objective by July 2023: that all small parcels shipped in Europe be shipped with 100% recyclable packaging and protection
• Continue to optimize the shipped volumes: by improving packaging solutions, by choosing the best modes of transportation, by improving the forecasting of shipments and requests at the global level
• Work upstream with parts manufacturers to improve the way parts are received, how they are dispatched, and how they are packaged, avoiding their reconditioning as much as possible. The objective is to reduce waste and the carbon footprint upstream of shipments made by Haulotte.

To provide guarantees in terms of environmental management, the Lorette Logistics Hub and that of Changzhou are ISO 14001 certified, in addition to ISO 9001 and ISO 45001 certifications.

The Haulotte group wishes to make strong commitments in line with its CSR strategy to meet current and future social and environmental challenges. With this in mind, the Group is aiming for triple ISO certification for all of its logistics hubs, located on all the continents of our beautiful planet.