Packaging Challenge with H & M

http://thedoschool.org/challenges/packaging-challenge/

REDUCE WASTE AND ENERGY DURING THE RETAIL PACKAGING PROCESS!

CHALLENGER

H&M Germany

START DATE

3/2015

END DATE

3/2016

DESCRIPTION

Find innovative ways to reduce waste and increase recycling along the transport routes of the fashion retailer H&M Germany.

CHALLENGE RELEVANCY

Worldwide transport represents a quarter of total CO2 emissions, so improving packaging and transport can significantly reduce our environmental footprint. Every day H&M sends large amounts of goods to its stores all across the world, 11% of CO2 produced in an H&M product’s life cycle are attributed to packaging and transport.

We challenge you to create an innovative packaging system for one of H&M Germany’s product lines. The goal is to minimize waste and energy, optimize the handling process and create maximum recycling and upcycling opportunities along the way. The solution should aim to be globally scalable and economically viable. By taking a complete look at the supply chain, from shipping, to warehouse storage, to reaching the consumer market, this Challenge is an opportunity to develop a more efficient and environmentally friendly process that can be scaled for significant environmental impact.

Over ten weeks, you will create a prototype for a new packaging system and process that will be tested in deliveries between H&M’s distribution center for Germany and individual stores. This process is supported by our Challenge Lab, a course which offers knowledge, skills and tools necessary to successfully solve the Challenge. Furthermore, you will gain an in-depth look into a multi-national company.

You will have the chance to interact with leading experts in the fields of packaging, reverse logistics, and sustainability, as well as meet H&M experts from those fields. You will conduct research to identify and understand the status quo of H&M, and its vision of sustainability in the context of available best-practices regarding transport and logistics. Based on these learning experiences, you will brainstorm, identify, and test ideas for a packaging prototype. The focus will lie on finding a feasible solution that is innovative, scalable, economical and more sustainable.

The impact of your solution will be measured during a one-week testing phase at the end of the ten-week Incubation Phase in Hamburg, delivering goods from the central German warehouse to H&M stores in Hamburg. Although the testing will take place in Germany, the solution should be one that can be scaled to suppliers worldwide for maximum impact.

Solving the Challenge as a group is only one part of the start-up program. During the ten weeks on campus you will also work intensively on turning your own venture idea into a viable social venture plan that is ready for implementation during the following ten-month Implementation Phase.