Paperless Logistics in Action
For many companies, paperless logistics is a future ambition they are working on to achieve. For us, it’s already a standard. As a global 3PL provider, we manage highly complex supply chains across industries and regions. Every process, every shipment, and every touchpoint is an opportunity to rethink how we work: faster, smarter, and more sustainable.
That’s why we design all new logistics processes to be paperless by default. And wherever possible, we already onboard new clients fully digitally. From warehouse operations to end-customer communication, paperless is no longer a pilot — it's the baseline.
Smarter by Design — Sustainable by Default
We have laid the foundation for paperless logistics across our network years ago. Our IT teams, digital experts, and operational colleagues together have embedded digital-first thinking into how we run our sites. But the real power of our approach lies in integration. Our paperless workflows are directly connected to solutions like MyArvato and the Arvato Customer Experience Cloud, creating seamless, efficient, and client-facing processes.
This standard doesn't just eliminate paper; it streamlines data flows, boosts transparency, and reduces dependencies on physical infrastructure. It improves how we work, how our clients experience our service, and how their customers interact with their brand. The result is a leaner and greener supply chain and increased brand loyalty.
Real Numbers, Real Impact
The shift to paperless logistics is delivering measurable results. Across our network:
- We’ve saved about 16.5 million sheets of paper in 2024, thanks to digitized delivery notes, invoices, returns documents, and picking slips.
- At selected sites, productivity increased by up to 25% at automated packaging machines and by up to 10% at packing stations.
- We cut printing costs, simply by digitizing internal transport documents.
- Clients have seen fewer complaints, shorter lead times, and faster returns — all due to digital documentation.
These aren’t just efficiency gains, they are real benefits for our clients with the potential for so much more. In several cases, our ability to offer fully paperless logistics has become a deciding factor in strengthening or extending partnerships.
Paperless Logistics in Action
Working paperless is not just a matter of reducing printouts, it's about fundamentally improving how we operate. By replacing paper-based workflows with digital processes, we reduce lead times, cut costs, lower our environmental impact, and increase process quality. Here are some highlight real-world examples that demonstrate the operational, financial, and client-facing benefits of our paperless approach across sites and industries. Whether by streamlining internal operations, supporting sustainability goals, or enhancing client and end-customer experience.
At our site in Harsewinkel (Germany), scanner-based internal movements have replaced manual paper flows, improving warehouse transparency and saving hundreds of thousands of documents every year. In Hamburg (Germany), we now provide proofs of dispatch digitally, cutting printing costs and enabling carriers to process goods faster. We did the same at our site in Enzersdorf (Austria) and added even more value for the client, a consumer electronics retailer, by providing delivery notes to the stores by email. This resulted in reduced questions on deliveries, calls, and waiting times.
For a lifestyle client, we digitized documents across more than 1.4 million annual shipments, eliminating 2.8 million sheets of paper and increasing packing and returns efficiency. For a German shoe brand, over 6.6 million paper documents were replaced with digital workflows, directly contributing to throughput gains and integrated customer communication.
In Landsberg (Germany), SIM card picking processes for a telecommunication company are now fully digital. This has led to eliminating more than 1.2 million paper sheets annually while boosting both speed and accuracy.
Each of these examples is different. But the pattern is clear: smarter logistics, lower costs, better data. A measurable contribution to our clients’ sustainability goals.
A Competitive Advantage, Not Just a Compliance Goal
Sustainability is no longer a bonus, it’s an expectation. By turning paperless into a global standard, we are not only reducing our environmental impact. We’re also helping our clients stay ahead of regulations, engage their end-customers more effectively, and future-proof their logistics.
At the same time, the benefits go beyond ESG goals. Paperless logistics reduces dependency on local printing infrastructure, enables seamless data access, enhances information security, and ensures consistency across countries and continents.
For our clients, this means fewer errors, faster time-to-value, and a higher-performing supply chain. For their customers, it means smoother experiences and clearer communication.
Built to Scale
Our paperless standard is designed to scale. Across sites, industries and across countries. We have the systems, the processes, and the expertise in place to expand these benefits with every new implementation.
Whether it’s tech, fashion, healthcare or consumer goods — our paperless logistics model adapts to every requirement while delivering the same consistent advantage: smarter supply chains that leave a lighter footprint.
Want to Learn More?
Download our Solution Paper and get in touch to explore how our paperless logistics solutions can support your growth, sustainability, and efficiency goals. At Arvato, paperless isn’t a buzzword, it’s how we shape supply chains globally, every day.