One evening at CES this past January, I walked up to E Ink’s suite for an update from Chief Strategy Officer Paul Apen. “I have something special for you,” Apen had said earlier, and he did.
Most of the evening was spent on a presentation from, and Q&A with, Alexander Cotte, CEO of a new E Ink partner named LivingPackets, and PR/Marketing Head Sebastian Rumberg. The product we talked about is The Box: a foldable, reusable, intelligent shipping box with an E Ink display for e-commerce. The Box won one of the dizzyingly large number of product awards CES gives out, but there are so many of those that The Box was lost in the crush. And Bob Raikes mentioned it in one of his CES round-ups. But The Box is special, and deserves a deeper dive.
First, there’s much more to The Box than the product itself. The smart package is intended to be the cornerstone of an ambitious system of smart logistics supported by a broad user community that profits from its support, said Cotte. But let’s start with the physical product, which is extremely clever on its own.
The Box is intended to be a sustainable alternative to cardboard boxes. that can be reused up to 1000 times, said Cotte. It has a volume of 25 liters when unfolded; when folded it becomes a one-liter flat pack. The boxes are made from expanded polypropylene (EPP) and can be recycled many times. A damaged box goes back to LivingPacket and the electronics module is used in new box. The EPP material is itself recycling.
Sensors – Lots of Sensors
The Box has humidity and temperature sensors, a gyroscope, an accelerometer, a weight sensor, and a built-in system for holding the contents in place without bubble wrap, popcorn, or other cushioning materials. A built-in camera monitors the contents following drops and can view damage in real time via 4G and 2G cellular transceivers . An integrated E Ink shipping label is remotely rewritten for each new shipping cycle. The initial market is e-commerce, said Cotte. A prototype unit was in the suite for inspection, and final versions were to be developed with customers. At the time, mass production was schedule for Europe in May and June.
The Box, in its folded, flat pack configuration. (Photo: Ken Werner) Click for higher resolution
The Box is to be integrated with the e-commerce system, and will be one part of a packaging-as-a-service model. Since The Box can be used up to 1000 times, it winds up being 10% the cost of cardboard boxes, said Cotte. The only requirement is for the customer to download an app, which maps all shipments. The company has a patent on “digital transport of responsibility,” which can cut insurance cost by 80%.
Either the customer, the seller, or LivingPackets can select the carrier, with LivingPackets acting as broker. The carriers sees all shipments as coming from LivingPackets for quantity discounts. As brokers, LivingPackets will guarantee that the customer or shipper always receives the best price. The platform will enable new services, and the data they collect will allow them to compare the sustainability of carriers, speed of delivery, et cetera, Cotte said. The customer can choose the most ecologically friendly or fastest carrier rather than the least expensive, if desired. The system will also facilitate returns via a return button on the container, and it speeds refunds.
The User Doesn’t Send it Back
The user can hold onto the box, if desired, and use it for a completely new shipment, or can use it to send unneeded items for LivingPackets to deliver to the Red Cross or other charities. In France and Germany, the government pays for sending donations, Cotte said. (LivingPackets is headquartered in Germany.)
The customer could also sell his or her old items via reverse auction. The customer puts the items in The Box and sets the price, which decreases as TheBox travels to a logistics center until it finds a buyer on the app. At the logistics center, the package is redirected to the buyer. If the price goes to zero, the items are donated to a charity.
Clearly, the LivingPackets’ system requires the smart packages to keep circulating. In addition to the concepts just mentioned, there is the LivingPacket “village” of local retailers that use the boxes. The app will show you the names of these retailers and you can take unwanted boxes to them, or the carrier can pick them up as it makes its typical route and drop them off at the retailers. This would be a new revenue stream for the carrier or a local delivery company. Cotte was clear that as The Box enables the transition from one-way logistics to circular logistics, the enthusiastic participation of all relevent players will be encouraged by making sure each gets a new revenue stream.
Sebastian Rumberg added that the potential market is very high, with a 90% margin, so there is enough profit for it to be shared with many players, including small investors through the company’s “Sharing Angels” program, and contractors. Investors in the Sharing Angels program are guaranteed a 5X return, said Cotte.
How’s it Coming? Or Going
So, how is this going? Last week, I asked that question via email, and Rumberg promptly answered:
“Things are going well for us. We saw some delays initially from our production partners in Asia and our business partnerships due to Corona, but things are normalising. As a European company we are thankfully used to working remotely, which minimises the effect that Corona has on our operations.
We now have over 80 people working on our vision for The BOX and the team is growing every week. We are seeing progress across the four pillars that are the foundation for our business: financing, packaging-as-a-service, circular economy, and operations.
You are right, we are very fortunate to be doing well, not just in terms of preparing the launch of THE BOX, but also our campaign to involve people through our campaign. In the first quarter, our Sharing Angel campaign kept accelerating and we have achieved over 765K Euros in contributions in Q1 alone. We broke through the 5 Million Euro milestone roughly two weeks ago. We are now quickly approaching the 6 Million mark. All contributions help us to produce the first batch of BOXes.
We are currently preparing the construction of first production line in France in June and will begin production in September. By the end of the year, we aim to see the first couple of ten thousand BOXes freely circulating.”
Clearly, the LivingPackets team has thought out their business and operational models very carefully, and they are not afraid to be ambitious. In addition, they seem genuinely committed to the environmental benefits of their circular logistics model. (KW)
Ken Werner is Principal of Nutmeg Consultants, specializing in the display industry, manufacturing, technology, and applications, including mobile devices, automotive, and television. He consults for attorneys, investment analysts, and companies re-positioning themselves within the display industry or using displays in their products. He is the 2017 recipient of the Society for Information Display’s Lewis and Beatrice Winner Award. You can reach him at [email protected] or www.nutmegconsultants.com.
