Dissatisfied with the cable ties they had used to date because of long procurement periods, danger of injury to employees, and damage to materials in winter, the management of the largest Tchibo distribution center, in Bremen, approached tesa to have a new solution developed. The resulting safety seal, which is applied to goods by hand along the so-called “sealing line” following final inspection, meets all the client’s requirements: It can be attached simply and quickly, is distinguished by its high tear-resistance, enables damage to be ascertained at a glance, and can be removed without leaving any residue.

“From logistics management and employees on the Tchibo sealing line, tesa research and development employees and staff in Special Application Management and sales – everyone pulled together to find an optimum solution,” reports Pageler. During this process, some of the parties involved had to consider the matter from completely new perspectives, because the task at hand was to come up with not only an innovative product, but also the entire practical periphery surrounding it. This includes an unrolling aid developed by tesa Bandfix AG, in Switzerland, in the use of which logistics employees were trained on-site and that now makes their work considerably easier.

With the seal, the recipient can see at a glance whether there has been any tampering. The word "opened" remains visible even if resealing is attempted.

Securing the supply chain

“So far, our safety concepts are a relatively small segment of tesa’s industrial business, but they have been posting very positive sales trends,” says a pleased Pageler. Since 2005, when the tesa adhesive safety seal first came into use at the largest Tchibo distribution center, in Bremen, the rollout has been completed at the other four locations as well. Now the entire supply chain of goods from Tchibo, from the high-rack warehouse to the recipient at the point of sale, can be traced without a gap.

The easily handled but effective application of the tesa safety system creates transparency and ensures that any weak points can be identified right away. For clients, these are benefits that pay: While trust among logistics partners and recipients rises, losses and expenses for replacement shipments are on the decline among shippers like Tchibo. No wonder other manufacturers of consumer goods also rely on tesa’s safety concepts.