Packaging

My connection with automotive packaging goes back around 25 years, to just the second issue of Automotive Logistics magazine.

The first issue had been a big one—interviews with the heads of global logistics at GM, Ford, Chrysler, VW Transport, and Toyota North America. A great start… but then I faced the classic question: how do I follow that?

So, I asked those same executives what topic I should cover next. Cindy Bridgeman, then head of inbound logistics at General Motors, said: “Packaging.”

I thought she was teasing me. “Packaging?” I asked. “Why?”

She replied, “Because it’s a really important part of the supply chain. Speak to our packaging engineer, Bruce Nelson.”

I remember thinking: Packaging engineer? That can’t be a real title.

A box is a box, right? Square or rectangular, big or small, maybe blue or brown. What’s there to engineer?

Turns out… a lot!

That was the beginning of a learning curve I’m still on. Over the years, I’ve been asked—by logistics leaders at companies like GM and Peugeot Citroën—to look more closely at packaging, precisely because it was so important and yet got so little attention.

One of the first things I learned? Small, low-value parts would go missing and trigger major investigations. But the large, expensive returnable containers would quietly disappear, and no one blinked. It was just accepted as part of the process.

More recently, CEOs and CFOs have started paying attention. I’ve heard stories of senior leaders visiting plants and finding entire graveyards of empty boxes. In one case, a plant manager tried to hide them—only to be caught out by the CEO. Not exactly a proud moment.

So yes—I’ve long had an interest in automotive packaging. That’s what led me to launch the Automotive Packaging and Container Management Surveys in 2021, 2023, and now 2025.

They’re designed to be short, sharp, and honest—focused on the real issues logistics professionals face. From returnable container loss to cardboard vs. plastic, tracking technologies to hidden costs, they offer a snapshot of how this area continues to evolve.

I hope you find the insights useful—and maybe even a little surprising. You can find all Packaging content and commentary on the Insights page or click below.

Thanks,

Louis