Watch: Nissan's Iván Dávila on how packaging efficiency can influence transportation excellence
At Automotive Logistics & Supply Chain Global in 2025, Iván Dávila, director of inbound logistics and supply chain management at Nissan Group of the Americas, discussed the role that improving packaging processes can play in the broader supply chain strategy.
In addition to speaking on stage at ALSC Global 2025 about elevating packaging and transport strategy, Iván Dávila, director of inbound logistics and supply chain management at Nissan Group of the Americas, joined Automotive Logistics on the Red Sofa to share more about the importance of packaging efficiency to the wider success of transportation and supply chain operations.
Moving the same volume with fewer trailers
"We have been pursuing several strategies – some of them are related to SNP optimisation or the quantity of parts that we can fit in a rack, and that could create more parts in a trailer, and of course we could reduce the trailers per year to move exactly the same volume," Dávila explained.
How Nissan is considering packaging and transport in the design process
Dávila also outlined how Nissan is building packaging and transport considerations into the design process to maximise efficiency. He said that Nissan has been exploring how it can "provide early feedback to [its] design functions on what could be the specific dimensions that could be favourable for transportation efficiency, for the coming five years of production".
"We are trying to get more influence in several aspects of new model development, and we are trying to promote that packaging could influence a new programme's development efficiency," he added.
Scaling up returnable packaging on a global scale
According to Dávila, returnable packaging is the main concept that Nissan is pursuing, mainly for domestic and original suppliers in the Americas. "That could create better efficiency for the total investment at the beginning of a programme," he said.
However, he acknowledged that there are some specific commodities that are "almost impossible" to transport in returnable packaging, noting that some commodities overseas could create 12 weeks of transportation on both the inbound side and the return flow. In these scenarios, Dávila said Nissan prioritises cardboard.
Packaging standardisation
One key programme that Nissan is working to pursue is increasing standardisation in packaging across its supplier base. "We have been challenging on how to create a universal packaging fleet that can be re-used across different suppliers or across multimodals," Dávila said. "That level of standardisation is definitely going to help the automation that we are facing in the manufacturing facilities, as well as in the warehouse facilities, through automated pick-up lines, AS/RS or AGVs."
He explained that this is not just something Nissan is challenging internally, but also exploring how to expand universal packaging fleets with its suppliers.
Keeping track of packaging assets
When it comes to tracking assets, Dávila identified several different technologies which can be of assistance. "We have been running several trials," he said. "RFID is a good solution, but just gives you the opportunity to control the racks within your warehouse environments. GPS is another good solution that could give you the opportunity to identify where your packaging is located, but in reality we don't think this is the complete concept to control our large packaging fleets."
He also noted that Nissan's team in Mexico has developed an internal platform, allowing it to control the empty racks across all of its suppliers. This empty rack management system, combined with some use of RFID and GPS technology, he said could create end-to-end visibility for the entire packaging fleet.
The future of packaging and transport
Over the next five years, Dávila shared his belief that investing in talent will be key if continuous improvement in packaging and transportation is to be achieved. "The more we can prepare them, the more we can enjoy the efficiencies and the opportunities [provided by] each one of the optimisations," he said.
Additionally, he noted that exploring different methods of transportation will be important, with maximising full truck rates a top priority in order to improve efficiency. He claimed that the digitalisation of new systems like transport management systems (TMS) will support this, alongside a continuation in the development of synergies with suppliers and improvements in end-to-end visibility.
