Undiemeister takes another step in sustainability: customized packaging

Sustainability goes one step at a time

Undiemeister has been in the field of sustainability for a while, and our first focus has always been on textiles. That puts the most effort into it. We strive for maximally sustainable solutions and that is exactly what it is: striving. We have figured that out by now. It is a process of steps, sometimes taking two steps forward and one step backward. It's no different. Not that we like to blame others, but you have to deal with a chain of suppliers. Especially in our case, because our customer is you, the consumer. Undiemeister is the last link in the chain.

Undiemeister's sustainability challenge is bigger than others

So why is our sustainability challenge bigger? It's because of our high rate of growth. And a growth process sometimes also goes step by step, but often with fits and starts. And with growth spurts. Then it is important to keep "things" on track. After all, a company has many knobs to turn, and the sustainability knob is a big one for us. It is important that our suppliers can deliver what we require. And as quickly as possible. Sometimes our suppliers manage to meet that and keep pace with our pace, but not always. Then you have to take a step back to take two steps forward again.

If you always strive for sustainability, will the goal ever be met?

Whether you meet the sustainability goal depends on your definition of that goal. Our first goal has always been to develop maximally carbon-neutral textiles. The word "maximum" is there for a reason, because the question is whether textiles will ever become 100% CO2 neutral. We are now very far advanced in that and we are very close to that goal. But we remain critical, in fact we are never satisfied in that. That is why we do not make unfeasible claims. They sound good, but we like to leave that to others. That is also a bit of how we are put together; not making the story better than it is. Remain realistic and do your best. Every day.

A sustainable business goes beyond articles.

And although we have our hands full with textiles, which will always remain so, we realize that as the last link in the chain we can do even more. Because we have been annoyed by packaging for a long time. You may also know the phenomenon of getting a package sent home, only to discover that the actual package containing your item is somewhere at the bottom. The rest of the packing box's space is filled with plastic bags, Styrofoam or other material. Whether that filling material is sustainable or not, without it is always better. But perhaps more importantly, in that case, the carrier is mostly hauling air. Because more packages than his van is big can't fit inside. And with big boxes of air, that shoots up quite a bit. So he has to drive more often and thus more CO2. All because of the packing boxes.

Packing boxes made to measure

Recognizing the problem, or rather the challenge, is one thing. Criticizing it is two. Solving it is three to ten, and sometimes more. Anyway, we don't shy away from challenges so easily. For a long time, actually since the beginning of Undiemeister, we wanted a solution for the many filling materials and air transport. But how do you do that? After all, every order with us is different and there are so many possible order combinations, that it is not feasible to have all different packaging boxes made for these different order quantities, which exactly match the contents, i.e. without air and filling material.

Our logistics supplier Promese comes up with the solution

Of course, Undiemeister needs the support of its suppliers for many solutions, especially with this one. After all, we are not a logistics service provider. In that, others are simply many times better. Therefore, the trick for a company like Undiemeister is to find suppliers who not only operate at the same high level of quality as Undiemeister, but are also able to help us with our challenges. And although Undiemeister always tries to keep its suppliers out of the spotlight as much as possible, we are making an exception for this time. Promese in Brabant, which handles logistics for our customers, offered us the opportunity to customize shipping boxes for each order, i.e. for each customer. No more transport of air, no more filling materials.

State of the Art Technology

It would go a bit too far to explain in this blog exactly how this customization of packing boxes works, and to be honest, we don't really understand it ourselves either. So a small attempt: on part of the distribution line there is a machine, a kind of robot, that measures each order by volume or size. Probably with laser technology. Or with weight, or both. Whatever, it just works! Because that robot then cuts the shipping box exactly to size, folds it around the order, and to top it off, our logo is then printed on the box. How beautiful is that!

Pffff, another step forward

Nice milestone in our sustainability process. And at the same time.... much more work to do. We are busy with pick-up points, for example, to reduce the number of delivery van movements. Easier said than done as it turns out, because how difficult can it be? Difficult as it turns out, a lot of hassle with software. But again, we don't shy away from challenges. And if it's not difficult, then it's not worth it, let's face it. Then it's the turn of our product packaging. Because there too we can take another step. We now have our eye on fully degradable material made from cane sugar (you just have to think of it) and that seems to be a big contender.

To be continued!