Direct Selling: Setting New Standards in Logistics and Sustainable Packaging

In the age of globalization, questions about sustainability and environmental protection are of particular importance across all industries. Customers no longer only look at the products themselves, but are also interested in how they were manufactured and how environmentally friendly they are packaged and transported.

Forever Direct, Forever Living Products’ modern distribution center in the Netherlands, sets new standards in logistics and packaging, while also ensuring that Forever Living Products’ high quality standards are maintained throughout the supply chain.

This is how responsible, global supply is achieved

From the logistics center located in the Netherlands, Forever products go directly to over 100 countries and with cooperation from the company’s other distribution centers, they are delivered to over 160 countries worldwide. A complex system at the highest technical level allows each product to be packaged with maximum efficiency and carefully checked before it reaches the customer. Peter van Eijk, Director of Operations at Forever Direct, puts it succinctly: “Every package should represent care, efficiency and quality.”
To enable the most intelligent packaging and sorting possible, Forever Direct uses a state-of-the-art cubing management system. The system calculates the optimal shipping box size for each order, ensuring that as little packaging material as possible is used and that the unused air space in packaging remains as small as possible. The picking process itself was simplified with an automated pick-by-light system. The system uses a light at each product station to show each employee which product needs to be added to an order.

Environmentally friendly packaging – it’s possible!

The packaging consists of 85 percent recycled material and is printed exclusively with environmentally friendly ink. Furthermore, the reduced interior spaces are filled with paper fillings instead of plastic fillings, making 600 cubic meters of plastic material unnecessary every year. In addition, three smaller packaging sizes were recently introduced, which has significantly reduced transport volume and saved a whopping 13 tonnes of cardboard annually. In the next step, printed receipts and flyers will soon be replaced by QR codes. Customers receive all the information they need in digital form. For Peter van Eijk, there is no question that environmentally friendly packaging can also be visually attractive. He says, “When someone receives a Forever order, I want it to look like a gift, put together with love and care.”

Social responsibility and integration

Forever Direct received the West Brabant Participation Award in 2016 for its social employment policy. Today, around 100 of the 300 Sheltered Employment Act employees with physical or mental disabilities are an integral and fully integrated part of the team. It is particularly important to Martin Zegers, the managing director of Forever Direct, that all employees feel part of the family and are valued, which is also very much in the spirit of Forever Living Products founder Rex Maughan.

Part of a big family

Forever Direct is an important part of the Forever Living Products company, which also includes Aloe Vera of America (production facility for beverages and personal care products) and Forever Neutraceutical (production facility for pellets and capsules). With a combination of innovative technologies, committed employees and a strong focus on sustainability, Forever Direct sets new standards in logistics and shows that sustainability and economic success can go hand in hand.

Bilder: Forever Living Products