Where suppliers sit
Michigan reports that 96 of the top 100 automotive suppliers to North America have a presence in the state, and 60 are headquartered there. Auburn Hills has facilities of more than 50 automotive companies. Troy, Southfield and Novi host supplier headquarters, and Livonia, Canton and Van Buren Township have supplier operations too. Our Oakland County page and Wayne County page cover the places.
Suppliers ship parts to assembly plants in returnable containers under a customer's packaging spec. Most months that works. A supplier that has a launch, or whose containers are late back, needs an expendable pack on short notice. That is the job on this page.
What suppliers ask for
| Situation | Spec we ask for | Page to read |
|---|---|---|
| Returnable fleet short for a few weeks | Footprint, height and pack quantity of the returnable; Grade A | Returnable shortages |
| Parts going overseas or across the border | Wall count for loaded weight; dry; full flap for sharp parts | Export lanes |
| Service parts to dealers or centers | Smaller boxes: 36 x 36 x 36 or 40 x 30 x 30 in | 36 x 36 x 36 in |
| A launch ramp with too few containers | A few hundred 48 x 45 in boxes by a date | 48 x 45 x 40 in |
The packaging sheet is the spec
A packaging engineer already has the spec in a customer sheet: footprint, inside dimensions, standard pack quantity, gross weight. Write exactly those. The footprint and the weight are the minimum. See the pack spec checklist.
Packaging Corporation of America sells expendable triple-wall corrugated for overseas automotive shipments in place of returnable plastic containers or metal racks. A used triple-wall gaylord is the same idea as a one-way pack. Name the footprint, wall count and bottom in the request.
What we do not claim
We do not claim a car maker or a supplier as a customer. When a plant or supplier is named on one of our pages, it is there to describe the freight in the place. A spec is described by its fields, not by who ships it.
Facts and figures
- Automotive packaging for ocean containers is generally one-way (expendable) because returning it costs too much (Automotive Logistics, January 13, 2017). (automotivelogistics.media, retrieved 2026-11-11.)
- Packaging Corporation of America offers expendable triple-wall corrugated for overseas automotive shipments in place of returnable plastic containers or metal racks. (packagingcorp.com, retrieved 2026-11-11.)
- The longer the logistics leg, the less practical returnable packaging becomes, and spare parts shipped to service centers usually go one-way in expendable packaging. (macfarlanepackaging.com, retrieved 2026-11-11.)
Terms
- backup pack: The expendable pack a supplier ships when its returnable containers are short; it should match the returnable's footprint and pack quantity.
- standard pack quantity: How many parts go in one container under the customer's packaging spec.
- returnable container: A plastic, metal or wood container that cycles between a supplier and a plant; gaylords stand in for them when the returnables run short.