Alberto Soto is Senior VP, International at ORBIS Corporation. He has been with the company for over two decades and has extensive professional experience in human talent development, value stream mapping, pricing strategies, operations and warehouse management.
ML- ORBIS Corporation, one of the oldest privately held packaging manufacturing companies in the U.S., offers more than 170 years of excellence in manufacturing sustainable and reusable packaging. What is your assessment from the time you arrived until now as Senior Vice President International?
There is much more awareness of how goods move through the supply chain and, along with that, has come a significant recognition of the value of reusable items within supply chains. “Supply chain” is now a very familiar concept and ORBIS impacts the entire supply chain of our key customers in the beverage industry.
Advantages:
Improved performance in sustainability metrics.
Reduced system downtime.
Plant cleaning.
Reduction of waste and impact on the environment.
Reduction in transportation costs.
ML-During your time at ORBIS, could you give a brief summary of how the industry has evolved? And what have been the challenges you have faced in recent years?
The beverage industry is exciting. There has been a lot of growth in different types of beverages such as tea, energy drinks, beer and carbonated beverages. This diversification, coupled with the pandemic, boosted beverage demand and can production in recent years. But we also recognize that it is cyclical and we are ready to help our customers when and where they need us at any stage of their supply chain.
And, the can industry is a truly global market. We serve beverage customers in Latin America, Europe and the United States.
ML- What are the values that ORBIS has been applying to maintain the loyalty of both its customers and its suppliers during all these years?
We take a holistic approach to our customers’ supply chains. We listen and understand the ins and outs of the industry and can provide experience and expertise to help you meet your business objectives with reusable packaging.
In addition, once beverage companies convert to fully reusable solutions, our ORBIS Reusable Packaging Management (RPM) service team helps beverage companies manage, wash and track their packaging assets.
ML- Recently, ORBIS, announced the launch of its latest offering: Packaging Life Cycle Assessment (PLCA). Could you explain what PLCAs are and what their function is?
ORBIS’ PLCA capabilities help companies measure the impact of packaging at every stage of its life, from natural resource extraction to end-of-life. By comparing reusable and single-use packaging, ORBIS applies data-driven analysis to help customers reduce environmental impacts such as greenhouse gas emissions, water use, solid waste and energy use. These PLCAs provide companies with the data needed to understand, document and improve their sustainability initiatives, while providing tremendous opportunities to minimize their impact on the environment.
ML-What measures is the company implementing to avoid impacting the price increase to the final consumer?
ORBIS is always looking to increase efficiency in processes, from product design to materials and operation.
Product design: we know that one size or style of pallet does not fit all, so we seek to develop product portfolios that have different models that meet different requirements when it comes to factors such as load capacities, storage systems, etc.
Materials: we take a creative approach to materials. Our “Recycle with ORBIS” program allows customers to turn in their packaging at the end of its useful life, where we will reprocess it into another useful product and grant credit for future purchases. As part of this program, we can also accept scrap material from customers that cannot be used in their process. We reprocess it and can use it in pallets. This, of course, depends on the preliminary testing of such materials. Providing a truly circular solution.
Operations: our operations team is always conducting kaizen, or continuous improvement, events to optimize and streamline our manufacturing process. In fact, the Silao plant has won the ORBIS Plant of the Year award three times. This award is based on efficiencies achieved in safety, quality and productivity metrics, among others.
ML-ORBIS Reusable plastic containers improve product flow throughout the supply chain. Does it seem that nowadays there is a greater commitment to communicate and innovate with environmentally sustainable proposals in both processes and products?
Definitely. Today’s beverage consumer is looking to buy brands that act with sustainability in mind and that sustainability starts in the supply chain, with reusable packaging. By eliminating single-use wood pallets, we help companies become more sustainable. Reuse is a big story that the beverage consumer is very interested in.
ML- Four years ago, ORBIS and The Imagine A Day Foundation created the ‘Grow’ initiative. His company is also active in ocean and coastal preservation. What other environmental measures do you plan to implement and in which countries?
We continue to focus on our Ocean in Mind initiative, in which we use single-use coastal waste in our containers and pallets. We will also continue to innovate our Recycle with ORBIS program, so that customers can use a total circular packaging solution.
ML-ORBIS recently attended ExpoPack2023, where it showcased the latest in sustainable and reusable packaging. What exactly were the innovations your company presented at the German trade fair?
At ExpoPack, we promoted the traditional 44 x 56 UCP pallet system, dividers and top frames, as well as various 40 x 48 plastic pallets for shelving/storage and 37 x 37 plastic pallets for finished product distribution. There are many opportunities to help customers move from wood pallets to reusable plastic pallets within their supply chain.
At LogiMat in Germany, we focus on our 1180 x 1265mm (German Pallet), 1120 x 1420mm (Spanish Pallet) and 1120 x 1300 mm (UK Pallet) pallet systems as well as spacers and top frames which are used in the UK, Germany and Spain.
ML- Finally, what are ORBIS’ expansion plans for 2023 and which areas will experience the greatest growth by the end of the year and in the medium and long term?
We will continue to improve our products. We recently launched the 40 x 48 P3 pallet that makes 280 trips in the supply chain, compared to wooden pallets that travel about 11 trips before failing.
We will continue to innovate in the area of recyclable materials.
We are also expanding our service offerings in our regions. We have a network of ORBIS Reusable Packaging Management service centers where we help beverage companies finance, manage, wash and track packaging in the supply chain, so they have the right product, in the right place, at the right time. When our customers use these services and utilize our service centers, they can leave the packaging to us and focus on their core business.
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