About

The U Market Services team received a sustainability award with the process of improvement surrounding the custodial Periodic Auto Replenishment (PAR) system! This was a national award given by University Logistics and Supply Chain Association (ULSCA)!

The 2022 ULSCA Sustainability Award is presented to a member organization for a project or initiative that demonstrates a sincere commitment to applied sustainability best practices on campus or in the community. The U Market Services Package Waste Reduction project received this award!

In 2020, U Market Services (UMS) hired an intern, Hope, from the University’s Minnesota Technical Assistance Program (MnTAP). MnTAP is aimed at “Strengthening MN businesses by improving efficiency while saving money, through energy, water, and waste reduction”. Hope recognized an opportunity to reduce cardboard box use by using reusable plastic totes for their “Par Level” deliveries. For Par Level orders, UMS staff use hundreds of custodial closets on campus and systematically place orders to bring the items up to set par levels. After the order is filled and packaged at the UMS Warehouse, drivers deliver them to the end locations, stock the shelves, and leave the cardboard boxes for custodians to dispose of. Hope saw that UMS staff had 100% start to finish control over this process and could easily make changes. She suggested a better process would be to package these orders in reusable totes to be easily stacked (“nested”) in the trucks and reused for the next orders, reducing the reliance on cardboard boxes.  

Impact 

Using reusable totes for the Par Level program reduces about 13,000 lbs of campus waste annually, maximizes the use of salvaged boxes, and reduces the flow of single-use packaging into the waste stream! Full implementation of this new process only cost $2,307 in materials and saved around $15,000 annually in packaging costs and materials!

Hope also identified opportunities for the implementation of recyclable labels and packing slips, and replacing stamps with stickers where applicable. These changes reduce another 1,740 lbs of materials into the waste stream annually, with the greatest reduction in using labels with liners that get disposed of. The total project is estimated to reduce approximately 15,000 lbs of waste every year!

Creativity 

This new process redesigns how the order filling team views orders and packages. Prior to the new solution, the order filling team saw an order as an order, regardless of whether it was being delivered to a customer or placed in a Par Level closet. Now, UMN has recognized and utilized the control they have over the packaging and what happens with it, with the unique Par Level service they provide. They now have control over packaging post-delivery, which is where they lost control of the package prior to the new process.  

Importance 

This project, which is focused on reducing packaging waste, aligns more closely with the supply chain in inventory management, order fulfillment, and packaging process components. With the help of area supervisors, Hope conducted trials of the project and made adjustments to incorporate staff feedback prior to full implementation. 

The project required input from the logistics operations team because any changes in packaging directly affects the staff who complete the deliveries. These ‘consequences’ in logistics meant engaging the logistics team, resulting in modifications and improvements to incorporate their feedback. 

However, with the cooperation and engagement of Hope, the supervisors, frontline staff, and the support of management, UMN was able to implement these improvements for both cost saving and more sustainable operations!