The Effects of Supply Chain Sustainability Criteria on Selecting the Optimal Package Design

Abstract

In the packaging industry, there are certain criteria that characterize whether a package is sustainable or not. Thus, the design of the product is decided by satisfying the aforementioned criteria. However, when the whole supply chain is under study, the process is not so straightforward and the related science field is Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM). In this master thesis the effects of the food industry specific supply chain sustainability criteria on the package design will be investigated. With a thorough literature review those criteria are going to be identified, while with interviews data about the current package alternatives of certain products will be collected. With these inputs a Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) problem is formulated and will be solved with the use of the Best-Worst Method (BWM). On the one hand, the BWM achieves the ranking of the supply chain sustainability criteria by estimating their respective weights and on the other hand the selection of the optimal design among the alternatives. The implementation of the analysis took place for three selected products of the Kraft Heinz Company; the Heinz Tomato Ketchup, the Heinz Seriously Good Mayonnaise and the Heinz Beans. The preferences of the supply chain members of these selected products were documented and the optimal package designs were selected. It has to be underlined that equal importance was given to the weights of the six different supply chain members and the three dimensions of sustainability. The dispenser Sauce – O – Mat was selected as optimal for the sauces, while the Can for the beans. It was proved through what-if scenarios that modifying the weights that that decision-maker assigns to the preferences of the supply chain members and the importance of the dimensions of sustainability has an effect on the selection of the optimal design. In the end, a decision-making tool was created that improves the selection process of package alternatives in the food packaging industry.