Case Studies

Sia Huat

Beyond Foodservice Supplies

Sia Huat is Singapore’s leading distributor of food service equipment. It has three retail stores (two under its ToTT Store brand), and a presence on all e-commerce platforms, in department stores, and in supermarkets. The company also sells directly to most hospitality, Food & Beverage retailers and manufacturers, caterers, and restaurants. Business support comes from a supply chain of 9.200m2 of warehouse space, a fleet of 13 trucks, and over 100 employees.

Customer needs

Reduced costs and damages

Three indicators are used by Sia Huat to measure packing efficiency: packing costs, packing time, and packing size. The business’s sales include a large variety of kitchenware and related items, and these diverse products are made of different materials such as glass, ceramics, plastics, and metal. This means that items must be packed both safely and efficiently before dispatch to customers. Product safety during transit is important to avoid breakages – and with them lost sales, reduced customer satisfaction, and unnecessary re-delivery costs.

A lower environmental footprint

Sia Huat’s commitment to corporate responsibility means that it promotes sustainability programs across all of its operations. Safeguarding the environment is more important than ever, and using Ranpak solutions allows Sia Huat to reduce the use of plastics in its packaging and to be demonstrably more environmentally friendly.

Our solutions

After discussion, Ranpak recommended the Geami® HV converter with its 3D honeycomb paper structure to pack all fragile items. PadPak® LC and FillPak® TTC were also used to further reduce breakage rates. These highly sustainable paper solutions are now allowing Sia Huat to fill single packaging boxes with a mixture of different products – accommodating various shapes, sizes, weights, and materials.

Business results

Reduced costs

The throughput achieved by packing staff rose from approximately 18 orders per hour to 21 orders per hour for about 50% of the Sia Huat business. This equates to approximately a 7% rise in productivity. Based on 150 applicable orders a day, the resulting time savings amount to 1.2 hours per person per day. At a labor rate of $14/hr, that’s $4,233.60/year in direct savings for every packing employee.

Better protection

Returns are assessed according to two criteria: ‘fit to put back to stock’ or ‘write-off’. The write-off level has reduced by about $2,000 a month so far.

Sustainable materials

Sia Huat had previously been using a lot of plastic air bubbles and tape in its packing environment. All plastics have now been eliminated by the shift to all-paper packaging material. These materials will now also be used for e-commerce stores as well.

Testimonials

“The difference between Ranpak and previous solution providers who had approached us is their acute awareness that being environmentally friendly doesn’t need to lead to increased costs. With the Ranpak machines, we were able to increase our packing throughput, reduce breakage and ensure that the improvements in productivity more than paid for the increase in material costs.”

Melvin Tan Supply Chain Director