Following a successful test run by industry and the retail trade, Georg Utz (Schüttorf / Germany; www.utzgroup.com) recently launched its series production of the “GS1 Smart-Box”. The first 100,000 blue reusable transport containers in POM were delivered at the end of April 2021. They can be used in a temperature range of 0 °C to +70 °C.

Measuring 600 x 400 x 211 mm they form the basis of what will be a family of containers in the future. The dimensions have been selected to make full use of the standardised loading heights of 1.20 m and 2.40 m. Distribution of the reusable box in plastic, which is designed for a circular economy, is in the hands of pooling partner IPP (Gevelsberg / Germany; www.ipp-pooling.com).

In the test run, the grey-coloured prototype, the so-called 0 series, was checked for its performance in automated processes and for trouble-free identification by means of the affixed GS1 barcodes. Industry and the retail trade sent a total of 500 containers through their production and packaging processes to this end. The industrial companies involved were brand manufacturers Beiersdorf, Cosnova, Henkel, Kao, L’Oréal, and Procter & Gamble, while dm-drogerie markt, Edeka, Müller and Rossmann tested the containers for retail trade.

The GS1 Smart Box will be used in the drugstore segment to begin with. Later on, the intention is for it to be used to transport other consumer goods as well – such as clothing or confectionery – from production through to the point of sale (PoS). The aim is then for the container to be made available in an open pool, so as to promote its use across companies, and later on, across national borders, Utz explains.