Toyota's Andy Winebloom discusses PPWR compliance, design-for-packaging and Toyota's strategy for smarter vehicle launches
Packaging and logistics are being considered earlier when launching new vehicles – influencing decisions as early in the process as parts design. At Automotive Logistics and Supply Chain Europe, Toyota Motor Europe's Andy Winebloom explained the benefits of design-for-packaging and how Toyota is preparing for PPWR compliance.
Andy Winebloom, senior manager at Toyota Motor Europe, joined Automotive Logistics on the Red Sofa at ALSC Europe 2026 to discuss all things packaging, from regulatory compliance to the influence of packaging on the design of parts for new vehicle launches.
Winebloom previously attended the conference in Bonn in 2025, when he introduced delegates to the concept of Toyota’s Packaging Shared Service team – a centralised team within Toyota Motor Europe established to manage packaging within the business. By centralising the management of that team, Toyota has been able to build and develop skill within packaging and begin to standardise packaging across plants in its network.
Since last year's event, the team has worked on two vehicle launches. Winebloom explained that with those launches, the team has had opportunities to take stock and reflect on how that's gone – in terms of standardisation and from the perspective of multiple stakeholders – to learn how to improve so the next launch can be even better.
Challenges with regulatory compliance
He noted some significant challenges that the Packaging Shared System team is facing at the moment, not least the issue of compliance with the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR).
"We're busy preparing our supply chain for PPWR," explained Winebloom. "The first aspect of the regulation comes [into force] in August so we're working with our suppliers, outside of Europe specifically, to get them ready for that.
"Then after that, in 2030, the next batch of regulation comes in, and that's not fully clear yet," he added. "So the challenge is that we're about to start designing our packaging now for 2030 now, but we don't have full visibility of the regulation just yet."
Retaining and developing talent
As previously mentioned, the development and retention of talent within packaging has been a core target for Toyota's Packaging Shared Service team from the outset, and on the Red Sofa Winebloom described this factor as "fundamental" to Toyota's success.
"Packaging is very expensive, and the transportation of it is also extremely expensive, so to design packaging well and to minimise those two costs, you need somebody that has got a broad understanding of the supply chain and the needs of the stakeholders, plus some strong technical engineering skill as well," he elaborated.
He touched on the importance of retaining staff, especially once these skills have been developed. "Bearing in mind the vehicle life cycle, that the development of that vehicle takes three to four years, it takes time to build that skill, so we don't want to lose that person after just one cycle," he said. "We want to keep them in the business and on this job for two or three – or even more – cycles."
Toyota's six-step approach to smarter vehicle launches
Continuous improvement and the kaizen ethos is at the very heart of Toyota's business, and packaging is no exception. During his session and on the Red Sofa, Winebloom spoke about Toyota's six-step approach to smarter vehicle launches.
This begins with ensuring a firm grasp on the current situation at shop-floor level – identifying problems that need to be fixed and listening to the needs of team members on the shop floor. The next step involves engaging with the design team at the earliest level to influence the shape, size and assembly level of parts to best optimise them for packaging and logistics efficiency.
Other steps in the process include regulatory compliance – which today is heavily focused on the PPWR – as well as DEI initiatives – something one perhaps wouldn't be considered when designing packaging but, as Winebloom pointed out, can have a significant impact.
He spoke about Toyota's 'Any Member, Any Process' initiative, which aims to make handling of products accessible to all team members on the shop floor as the company pursues its goal of having at least 30% female representation within its manufacturing areas by 2030.
The final two steps of this process involve waste reduction as part of Toyota's kaizen approach – reducing unecessary waste by looking into areas like overproduction and overprotection – before considering what new packaging technologies can best support Toyota in its ambitions to improve efficiency, ensure compliance and support shop-floor diversity.
Design-for-packaging
Winebloom reiterated the value that allowing packaging to influence the design of parts can have on the overall efficiency of the broader supply chain. "In our experience, the earlier you can be involved the better... This, coupled with early engagement with purchasing about supplier selection – getting those big, expensive and complex parts closer to the delivery point – [has allowed us] to save up to 30% of our delivery costs."
