Email Jim at jim.thompson@ipulpmedia.com

Every manufacturing facility I have ever known has energy in the tare. What is tare? Pallets, drums, totes, tires, empty trucks and so forth. Pallets, drums, totes, and (used) tires (P,D,T &T) are considered a nuisance. Empty trucks may be another matter.

The first step towards extracting energy from P,D,T & T is to eliminate it to start with. This is what Amazon is trying to do. It should be part of your purchasing repertoire to bring this up at the beginning of the purchasing process and try to reduce or eliminate it then. And don't forget construction projects--they can generate abnormally large amounts of tare which gives you an opportunity to deal with it en masse.

It is the everyday tare that is invisible to us. Tare contains energy in several forms. It took energy (and raw materials) to manufacture it to start with. Then it took energy to deliver it from the point of manufacture to the point of loading. Next is the important trip from point of loading to you--the only reason for it to exist in the first place. Then you may move it around your site--more energy. Then it is off to the point of reloading or disposal.

You pay for all this energy use.

The question is this--is it being handled, from beginning to end, in the most energy efficient and economical way?

This question can only be answered on a case-by-case basis. There is not a one size fits all solution.

This means your purchasing department has to be given the training and the resources to properly vet your vendors to assure you are getting the optimum solution to your tare opportunities.

Your outbound shipments may contain tare you generate, too. How much thought is put into minimizing or eliminating this?

Think of it this way. P,D,T & T is something you never wanted. P,D,T & T is costing you money. Is it, 1, 2 or 3% of your product's selling price (Read: lost margins)? You will never know until you thoroughly analyze it.

Eliminating it to start with is the best solution.

Turning it into energy in your own boilers or others nearby may be the second-best solution.

Reusing it may be the third best solution, for in this case it must be hauled back to the place of loading (more energy).

Be safe and we will talk next week.

[Click here] for a deeper dive.

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