Case study of CabCube in the automotive industry
How Sumitomo Secured Long-Distance Wiring Harness Transport — While Cutting Return Logistics by 75%
Company Overview
Sumitomo is one of the world’s largest trading and manufacturing conglomerates, with production facilities spanning multiple continents. Within the automotive sector, it is a major manufacturer of wiring harnesses — the intricate bundles of cables and connectors that form the electrical backbone of a vehicle. Volkswagen is among its principal customers, and the complexity and value of the components involved means that transport packaging is not a peripheral concern: it is a critical quality-control variable.
Cabka is a European market leader in reusable transport packaging made from recycled plastic. Its CabCube® range of foldable large containers is engineered for demanding industrial supply chains where parts protection, logistics efficiency, and total cost of ownership all need to be managed simultaneously.
The Challenge
Wiring harnesses are deceptively demanding parts to transport. They are large, irregularly shaped, and highly sensitive to contamination, moisture, and physical damage. For Sumitomo, the challenge was compounded by geography: parts travel long international distances between production sites before reaching vehicle assembly lines, spending extended time in transit and storage.
Standard rigid boxes had provided a baseline level of protection, but created a significant problem on the return leg. Because they could not be folded or collapsed, empty containers occupied the same truck space as full ones. That meant for every loaded trip outbound, an equally costly and space-intensive return trip was required — with nothing inside but air. Across a high-volume global supply chain, this inefficiency translated into substantially inflated logistics costs.
What Sumitomo needed was a container that could genuinely protect high-value wiring harnesses across long international routes, fold compactly for return transport, adapt to its specific part configurations, and integrate cleanly into a multi-site logistics management system.
The Solution
Sumitomo selected Cabka’s CabCube® 2.0 (9F) and worked closely with Cabka to tailor both the sleeve and lid configurations to its specific operational requirements. The result was not an off-the-shelf container, but a customised logistics asset designed around the realities of international wiring harness transport.
Key features of the customised CabCube® 2.0 deployment include:
- Customised tray insert — a purpose-built internal tray separates wire harnesses during transport, preventing tangling, contact damage, and contamination throughout the journey
- Fully closed design — the sealed unit protects contents from weather, dust, and dirt, making outdoor storage of loaded containers practical and safe
- 4× return transport density — the sleeve and tray fold neatly between the base and lid when empty, meaning four times as many units can be loaded onto a return truck compared to rigid alternatives
- 79% volume reduction when folded with a return ratio of 1:4.7 — folded height drops to just 222 mm, enabling 14 units per stack on a mega truck vs. 3 when unfolded
- 875-litre internal volume with optimal truck-compatible dimensions (1,210 × 1,010 × 990 mm) for maximum space utilisation on outbound routes
- Barcoded sleeve — each container carries a unique barcode for systematic tracking and management across Sumitomo’s global logistics network
- Colour-coded lid handles — enabling fast visual identification and sorting across multi-site operations without the need for manual checking
- Ergonomic, splinter-free construction — lightweight at 39 kg and safe to handle, improving worker health and safety and reducing handling time on the floor
- Outdoor storage capability — empty units can be left outside without degradation, freeing up valuable warehouse floor space between cycles
The Results
The CabCube® 2.0 has become Sumitomo’s container of choice for the majority of its international wiring harness transport, delivering clear and sustained improvements:
- 4× more containers per return truck — foldability transforms reverse logistics economics, dramatically cutting the cost and carbon footprint of empty-run transport
- Zero damage in transit — the customised tray insert and fully closed design have eliminated quality issues associated with contamination and handling damage on long-distance routes
- Significant reduction in total logistics costs — compared to rigid boxes, the combination of return density gains and reduced damage incidents delivers sustained cost savings across the supply chain
- Outdoor storage unlocked — empty containers no longer need to occupy warehouse space, freeing up capacity at Sumitomo’s production sites
- Scalable, reliable system — with barcode tracking and consistent container specifications, Sumitomo has built a repeatable and manageable logistics framework around the CabCube® 2.0 across its international network
Client Testimonial
Logistic Engineer
“The CabCube® 2.0 transport container fits the majority of our international wiring-harness transport needs. The container is highly durable. We can 100% rely on it and have established a highly efficient logistics management system with it.”
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Key Takeaways
- Return logistics is where the real cost saving lives: A 4× increase in return-trip container density fundamentally changes the economics of a global supply chain — every outbound unit becomes dramatically cheaper to cycle back.
- Customisation is not a luxury — it is a requirement for sensitive parts: A standard container would not have solved Sumitomo’s quality problem. Tailored internal trays and a fully closed design were essential to achieving zero-damage transport of wiring harnesses.
- Smart identification features enable scalable logistics management: Barcoded sleeves and colour-coded handles may seem like small details, but at global scale they are what make a consistent, trackable container system operationally viable.
- Reusable packaging pays back over time: The durability and adaptability of the CabCube® 2.0 means Sumitomo has built a long-term logistics asset, not a consumable — with each reuse cycle further improving the return on investment.
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