Designing a reusable packaging solution for KPN

Abstract

This project proposes a no-waste, reusable packaging approach for networking equipment used in KPN’s business-to-business market. The goal of this project was to create a first proof of concept of reusable packaging in KPN’s logistical and manual processes, and therefore create a stepping stone towards further scaling-up reusable packaging across their operation.

KPN, the leading telecom company in the Netherlands, wants to accelerate the journey to become near 100% circular by 2025, in which the reduction of packaging waste plays an important role. To reduce this to virtually zero, a reusable packaging approach is suggested. Additionally, research showed that the return logistics of a number of B2B services are hindered due to a lack of packaging, which causes product damage and a delayed turnaround time.

With insight from the research a packaging prototype was designed and developed to be tested in a first pilot. A ‘ reusable messenger bag’ concept was selected, as it is durable, relatively cheap, size efficient and an already known, and valued packaging concept among mechanics and the refurbishment partner. To support the distribution of the packaging in an effective way, a logistic concept is proposed. This mechanic-centred system architecture ensures the availability of packaging at all times, potentially solving the return issues that were found in the research.

In the pilot, the accessibility of logistics, workflow of employees and the functionality of the product are tested in an actual order of a popular B2B service of KPN. The pilot resulted in a successful proof of concept and a first stepping stone towards the implementation of a zero-waste, reusable packaging approach for KPN. With a small-scale, technical implementation of this concept, it was shown that reusable packaging has the potential to not only reduce packaging waste, but also increase the workflow of involved stakeholders, improve the return logistics of electronics and therefore also reduce costs. This resulted in a positive and profitable business case for further development of this concept.

The biggest limitation was the small and narrow scope of testing (n=1). This made it difficult to actually validate if the return logistics were improved by a reusable packaging, as logistics manifest itself at scale. As a further roll-out of the concept shows to be interesting for KPN, the first next step would be to scale up the testing over the entire VPN service (±1000 orders yearly) to validate the logistic concept and functionality of the product.