Kautex goes for Co2-friendly2-friendly approach to packaging

Patrick Cosemans

Fuel system manufacturer Kautex wanted to develop a new, sustainable concept for the return packaging of its products. Step by step, we arrived at some potential alternative packaging concepts.

Kautex is a manufacturer of all-plastic fuel systems for the automotive industry. In 2020, the company joined the select group of manufacturing companies that received a Factory of the Future Award for their commitment to modern production technologies and digitalisation.

At the end of 2020, Kautex called on Sirris with the request to help develop a new, sustainable concept for the return packaging of fuel tanks. The current packaging is very heavy and large. The new concept should be CO2-friendly and should require only one truck to return, instead of four.

Kautex fuel tanks and the packaging setup

Step-by-step approach

Sirris assists in these projects on the basis of various workshops. In a first workshop, all practical data and concept ideas are collected. So, after Sirris took care of the preparatory work, a meeting was held with employees from the company who have different jobs and who can provide valuable input from their own perspective on the product. Together with these employees, Sirris considers several alternative packaging methods and concepts, analysing the advantages and disadvantages of the different (partial) systems, each from their own expertise. Based on the results of this workshop, three concepts were put forward and actions were defined with which Kautex could get to work immediately. 

In a concluding workshop, the three concepts were discussed in more detail. The information obtained in the meantime was added to the acquired knowledge in order to establish a priority list for the various concepts. For each of the concepts, a step-by-step plan was drawn up and additional partner information on partners, enabling Kautex to further develop the alternative packaging concept itself.

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