Customers of DS Smith Packaging’s Industrial Division are now able to place repeat orders of heavy-duty packaging using a smartphone, by scanning the QR code printed on the pallet label or the box.
The Quick Response (QR) technology communicates unique product and re-ordering information directly to DS Smith Packaging and an order is automatically placed.
According to DS Smith, the UK’s leading supplier of corrugated packaging, the use of the QR codes makes the ordering process “far quicker” than if it were undertaken manually, in most cases taking as little as three seconds.
Peter Foot, marketing and innovation director at DS Smith Packaging Industrial, says: “Ordering by QR code means that we receive customers’ requirements immediately, giving us the ability to schedule orders into an earlier programme where possible, and to reduce the hidden costs for both customer and supplier that can include administrative errors and the time spent correcting them.
“By taking the manual element out of the process, we are able to save our customers’ valuable time and ensure that we have as much control over the ordering process as possible to minimise error.”
QR technologies are said to be sufficiently robust to withstand industrial environments where packaging is moved and stored.
DS Smith says QR codes can be read and transmitted accurately “even if up to 30% of the code is obscured”, which “wouldn’t be possible for traditional barcodes”.
The resulting reduction in wastage “reflects DS Smith’s commitment to optimising packaging use and reducing the carbon footprint of its own business and that of it clients”.
