Plastics & Logistics

Every modern business uses plastic in one form or another. Even if the products/services that they sell doesn’t, there is always plastic used in some part of the business cycle. This is because of its cost effectiveness and efficiency. Why use a heavier and more expensive material when the same thing can be made from plastic at half the cost. 

The benefits of plastic are far reaching and it has helped businesses grow into the multinational corporations that they are today. Without plastic, it is hard to imagine where the modern world would be.  

One of the areas where plastic has played a major role is logistics. Logistics is anything to do with the connecting of the raw materials and the end user. There are a lot of logistics involved in developing a finished product usable by consumers and plastic helps the process. 

Plastic in Logistics 

When you think of logistics you might only think about the last phase of logistics, which is the transport of the finished goods to the consumers or retail outlets. However, there are as many logistical elements as there are parts of the business cycle. For every part, a new stage of logistics is needed and plastic plays its part in all of them. 

The first time raw materials are collected, plastic will be involved with the collection and ultimately the sorting with various machines, containers, and equipment. The raw material business then sells it to another company, which involves the transport from A to B. This transport is usually completed via a form of travel, either boat, train, car, or airplane. All of these modes of travel involve plastic, from the plastic coating insulating the electronic cables to actual plastic parts which aides in the functioning of the vehicle. 

Without plastic, this step would be far more expensive than currently possible. Already there is such a large markup between the price of the raw material and the price of the finished product, imagine if the logistics process did not have plastic to keep the price down.  

Once at the manufacturer, plastic is used in every phase to ensure that the raw materials are sorted and worked into their final form. Each business will have a different process and might use more or less plastic.  

The next step in the logistics process is between the manufacturer and the next consumer. Whether it be retail outlets because the product is finished or another manufacturer who is going to convert the product into its finished form, plastic is involved. Once we have a finished product, the packaging involved in the logistics from manufacturer to consumer uses plastic. The item will either be wrapped in plastic to keep clean or surrounded by plastic pellets to ensure that no damage comes to it during transport. 

The logistical process is a long one involved from the beginning to the end of the business cycle. Without it, logistics services would struggle to adapt to the increased prices involved, which would increase the overall price of products and services.