Elacin is the leading manufacturer of professional hearing protection that enables communication at any noise level. Sustainability is an important topic in the company, and since 2023 Elacin has also been certified according to ISO 14001. Elacin's sales technicians* visit business customers on site to make ear mouldings for high-quality, custom-made hearing protection on their employees*. The impressions are collected and sent to the Dusseldorf office and on to the production facility in Romania. Deliveries also come from the headquarters in the Netherlands.

 

Range of requirements for packaging
Since Elacin Germany's logistics processes were converted in 2020, the acoustics expert was on the lookout for a sustainable shipping alternative. The challenge here was,

that, on the one hand, the packaging had to withstand rough handling in logistics in order to protect the sensitive imprints. The pragmatic handling is one reason why hardly any cartons could be used twice.

Due to the different workloads in the field, different sized packaging is advantageous.

A medium-sized quantity was needed without a minimum purchase quantity 

The packaging should be sustainable as well as the material recyclable.

Parcel service providers must accept the shipping packaging at no extra charge.

In addition, the cost of the packaging must be right.

 

"Ear mouldings represents a fine art for acousticians; if the packages are not well protected, the elemental piece could be damaged during the impression," explains Jeannine Sarwat, responsible for customer service and sustainability issues at Elacin.

 

Immediate impact through cross-departmental use
hey circle immediately met with great acceptance throughout the company. At Elacin, a total of 320 hey circle reusable shipping boxes are in use: 80 boxes are used in the warehouse and for permanent storage in the trunks of the sales representatives. 80 boxes each in sizes S, M and L are distributed among the field staff. A basic repertoire of all sizes (10 boxes per size and 2 XL boxes) is stored with each field staff member.

 

Approximately 50 shipments per month are sent out with S- and M-boxes; 5-6 shipments per month go out with the L-boxes. The boxes are sealed with an adhesive seal to protect them from unauthorized access.

Shipping between Germany, Romania and the Netherlands is mostly done via ups. Within Germany, elacin ships via dpd. The parcel service provider dpd has already gained experience with hey circle's reusable shipping solutions via other projects.

 

Jeannine Sarwat, responsible for customer service and sustainability issues at elacin, remembers: "What paper we used to have in the warehouse, we sank into it! We had to overcome many stumbling blocks, but with the innovative boxes from hey circle, we were able to make our shipping more sustainable. And it's so easy to use that we made the switch in no time. We are happy to be able to make our contribution to environmental protection."