Improving Inbound Logistics through Standardised Packaging

Abstract

This thesis focuses on how standardised packaging affects inbound logistics, using the example of Sansera Sweden AB in Trollhättan, a manufacturer of precision engine components for the automotive industry. Sansera sources components from four suppliers, three of which use the standardised V-EMB containers (standard-shaped, stackable, returnable modules), while one supplier delivers parts in non-standard, non-stackable, and disposable cardboard boxes. Based on three interviews with Sansera’s logistics coordinator, observations of Sansera’s inbound logistics processes, and 2025 transportation data, the analysis identifies the non-standard supplier’s packaging as a common cause of inefficiency across several performance measures. These measures include a trailer load utilisation of approximately 20 percent versus 95 percent for suppliers using standardised packaging, over four times the C02 footprint per part compared to the standardised flow, increased warehouse capacity pressures, and recurring production disturbances amplified by the company’s sole-source reliance on this supplier. The thesis concludes that packaging must be considered part of a company’s system-level inbound logistics decisions and proposes that the non-conforming supplier could be offered standard reusable packaging delivered through the existing reverse empty-packaging flow from another supplier.