Case Study: Independent study proves Tosca RPCs reduce egg retail labor by 53%

Eggs are a high volume item, requiring frequent restocking. For retailers that are still using outdated corrugated boxes, keeping egg cases stocked and clean is most likely taking longer and costing more than it should. Through an industrial third-party engineering study, Tosca Reusable Plastic Containers (RPCs) have proven to reduce egg retail labor by 53% versus corrugated.

Study details

The 2018 Time and Motion Study for eggs, conducted by Advantage Consulting, a third-party industrial engineering firm, compared the time required to stock and manage egg displays using traditional corrugated boxes versus Tosca RPCs. The current corrugated system requires associates to remove egg cartons from the boxes and stack the cartons in the display case. The new system with retail-ready RPCs allows the associate to place the entire RPC on the shelf and drop the front wall for easy shopper access to eggs.

The industrial engineer identified, timed and analyzed each of the many steps required to manage the egg department:

• Pull egg cases from the cooler, place on a cart and transport to the sales floor.
• Rotate product on the shelf to bring older product to the front and place newer product in the back.
• Stock new eggs on the shelf and remove expired or damaged eggs.
• Break down corrugated boxes for recycling at the baler or collapse RPCs and place in the back room.

The engineer traveled to several stores over a one-week period, collecting data on the time required to stock the display case using corrugated boxes. Then they spent a week collecting data on the process using RPCs. In both cases, store associates were asked to stock the cooler in the same way as they always stock, not going any faster or slower than normal.

Tosca RPCs crush corrugated boxes

The results of the study showed that using RPCs save each store 5 days and 16 hours a year in labor.* This translates to more than $1,600 estimated annual labor savings per store** as well as hours that can be reallocated to other tasks.

Average time required to stock 8-foot display case

Savings beyond reducing egg retail labor

The Time and Motion Study makes a compelling case for switching to RPCs from corrugated. The 53% labor savings is only part of the opportunity. The study did not included the additional time required to process out broken eggs and sanitize display cases, both of which are regularly needed for fragile, high-shrink eggs.

Tosca RPCs are specifically designed to protect eggs better during transport and display, reducing shrink by 50%. With less shrink by utilizing plastic totes, not only are there fewer messes to clean up and less time spent processing broken eggs, but there are more eggs for customers to purchase. Additionally, removing eggs to clean the case is considerably faster and easier when they are stocked in RPCs.

To learn more about the impact RPCs can have on your bottom line, go to toscaltd.com or email us at [email protected].

Click here to download this case study as a PDF file.

*Assuming the display is restocked twice a day

**Based on $12/hour labor rate