Elopak Launches Fully Automated Warehouse in Terneuzen, Netherlands

The high-tech, modern facility has been built to the latest standards, offering improved logistics and increasing efficiency by replacing storage over multiple sites and automating previously manual processes.

In line with Elopak’s strong commitment to sustainability and efforts to reduce its Greenhouse Gas emissions to net zero by 2050, environmental factors were a key consideration in the design and construction of the new warehouse. By building it wall-to-wall with Elopak’s existing converting plant, which is the company’s largest manufacturing plant globally, the new facility is expected to save more than 40 truckloads per day. Transferring unfilled cartons directly between both facilities will significantly reduce transport costs, regional traffic and CO2 emissions as Elopak previously operated three external warehouses in the area.

The warehouse offers fully automatic handling and a total storage capacity of 495 million cartons. Having taken less than 20 months from initial preparations to completion, the first official production pallets will be stored in the new facility from November 11.

In terms of capacity, the new warehouse outperforms the previous facilities by almost 200 million cartons, offering more than 24,000 pallet places on a 5,800m2 surface area. It stands 25 metres tall, meaning 9 pallets can be stacked on top of each other, and all processes are fully automated: from leaving the plant to reaching the final storage location. As manual handling is no longer involved, the risk of damaged blanks is reduced, thus further increasing the level of food safety within the facility.

Commenting on the launch of the new warehouse Elopak CEO Thomas Körmendi stated: “We are delighted by the results here at Terneuzen and congratulate the team and our partners on their hard work to deliver a top-class facility. By increasing efficiency and operational excellence, improvements like this put Elopak in an even stronger position when it comes to meeting the growing demand for sustainable packaging solutions.”

The project, which began in March 2021, is part of ongoing efforts to ensure commercial excellence through operational improvements across Elopak as part of the company’s sustainability-driven growth strategy. Elopak sells in excess of 14 billion cartons every year across more than 70 countries to companies in the food and retail sectors.