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  • Empties Management

Turn container shortages, excess stock, and fee disputes into one controlled process

SupplyOn helps manufacturers manage reusable packaging and container flows from empties order to booking, account balancing, stock taking, and empties fee settlement. With one connected process across suppliers, plants, warehouses, and repair networks, teams can secure material supply, reduce process cost, and lower inert capital tied up in empties.

The Challenge

When empties are not managed as a process, supply risk and hidden cost build up fast

Reusable containers are critical to material flow, but many companies still manage them through fragmented spreadsheets, manual bookings, disconnected partner communication, and delayed reconciliation. That makes it harder to secure production, optimize process cost, and reduce inert capital tied up in container stock. SupplyOn helps manufacturers connect ordering, bookings, balancing, stock taking, and fee settlement in one integrated empties process.

Prevent material disruption caused by missing empties

Support material supply with the right containers at the right time so production is not put at risk by packaging shortages.

Reduce manual effort across bookings and reconciliation

Replace fragmented container tracking and partner coordination with one shared process for bookings, confirmations, claims, and balancing.

Make container stock transparent across the network

Gain visibility into empties in stock, in motion, and in maintenance across suppliers, plants, warehouses, and logistics flows.

Control overstock, wrong allocations, and avoidable fees

Detect unused containers, excessive stock, and allocation errors earlier so costs can be assigned correctly and reduced over time.

The Solution

Transform empties flows into an integrated control process

SupplyOn Empties Management connects the full reusable packaging lifecycle in one process – from demand and order management through booking and alignment to stock taking and empties fee settlement. That gives manufacturers a more reliable basis for supply continuity, lower administration effort, and better control of container-related cost.

Demand & Order Management for empties supply

SupplyOn helps material suppliers request the empties they need in a structured process, with support for defined container types, relations, delivery dates, provision times, bundles, ownership logic, and amount restrictions. The system can also generate empties order proposals based on material demand and packaging rules, helping planners balance upcoming needs against existing stock and open orders.

Key features
  • Workflows for empties ordering by supplier and relation
  • Order proposals based on material demand
  • Visibility into open orders and existing stocks – including order balancing
Impact
  • Lower risk of material shortages caused by missing containers
  • Better planning of container demand versus available stock
  • Fewer wrong orders and less manual coordination
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Booking, alignment & claim handling

SupplyOn helps teams manage empties movements with manual, external-system, or system-generated bookings. Confirmed orders and standing orders can generate bookings automatically, while confirmation, storno, and claim handling rules keep partner alignment structured. Instead of forcing your team to chase every booking, SupplyOn supports exception-focused confirmation and supplier-side deviation checks.

Key features
  • Manual, automated, and ERP-driven booking options
  • Confirmation and storno rules by relation
  • Booking claims and deviation handling
Impact
  • Lower booking effort across partners
  • Faster clarification of deviations
  • Less internal workload caused by missing confirmations and disputed movements

Account balancing, stock taking & fee settlement

SupplyOn turns reconciliation into a controlled process. Monthly account balancing helps partners validate bookings close to the booking date without waiting for a physical count. Stock taking supports both global and focused validation for certain relations or container types, while usage fee calculation identifies billable stock levels, free-of-charge conditions, and claimable exceptions. Billing data can then be handed over to ERP for invoicing and payment tracking.

Key features
  • Monthly account balancing with reminders and closure rules
  • Global or focused stock taking with correction booking support
  • Usage fee calculation based on stock levels and defined rules and handover of billing data to ERP
Impact
  • Faster and more reliable reconciliation
  • Better control of container losses, overstock, and billing disputes
  • Cleaner cost allocation and lower inert capital tied up in empties
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Relevant ROI for empties management

The value of Empties Management comes from securing material supply, reducing administration effort, lowering transport and inventory cost, and creating more transparent billing and accountability across the container network.

Up to 40%

reduction of process costs through implementation of an empties management system

Lower transport cost

through order consolidation, predefined turnaround times, and defined delivery cycles

Lower admin cost

through transparency over assets in stock, in motion, and in maintenance

Lower inventory cost

through detection of wrong allocations, overstock, and unused containers

Better cost allocation

through system-supported account balancing, stock taking, and loss-related correction processes

Secure production. Reduce process cost. Minimize inert capital in empties.

Frequently Asked Questions

SupplyOn Empties Management is a digital process for managing reusable packaging and container flows across the supply network. It connects empties ordering, booking, partner alignment, account balancing, stock taking, and usage fee settlement in one system.

It helps manufacturers prevent material shortages caused by missing containers, reduce manual effort in container tracking and reconciliation, lower excess container stock, improve transparency across the network, and manage usage fees and claims more consistently.

Material suppliers can request defined empties in limited quantities for defined delivery dates and relations. The system supports order proposals based on material demand and packaging rules, while planners can review open orders, supplier stock, and fulfillment priorities before confirming, changing, partially fulfilling, or canceling requests.

Yes. SupplyOn supports customized empties order proposals based on material demand and packaging rules, helping connect packaging supply more closely to actual material requirements.

Bookings can be created manually, transmitted from external systems, or generated automatically from confirmed orders or standing orders. Depending on the process design, confirmations can be manual or exception-based, with storno and claim options built in.

Account balancing is the formal reconciliation of bookings over a defined period, usually monthly. Partners are reminded to review and confirm the bookings for that period, submit claims on deviations, and close the balancing cycle with clear results and follow-up actions.

Take control of reusable packaging across the network

Connect empties ordering, bookings, balancing, stock taking, and fee settlement in one process – so your teams can secure supply, reduce administration effort, and lower the capital tied up in containers.

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