Cascades joins Amazon Packaging Support and Supplier network

Cascades, a leader in the recovery and manufacturing of green packaging and tissue products based in Kingsey Falls, Quebec, has announced that it is an official member of the Amazon Packaging Support and Supplier (APASS) network. 

According to a news release from Cascades, the company views this participation with Amazon as a way of offering creative and sustainable packaging solutions that comply with the e-commerce industry’s most rigorous requirements and specifications. 

APASS is a program designed by Amazon to support vendors, sellers and manufacturers in certifying their products as Prep-Free Packaging (PFP), Ships-in-Own Container (SIOC) and Frustration-Free Packaging (FFP), Cascades reports in a news release. The program ensures that packages are the right size, protected against damage and ready-to-ship without the need for additional packaging and ideally easy to open and are recyclable. APASS is a group of suppliers that help test, design and supply packaging in line with its packaging certification rules. 

Through Amazon’s FFP Vendor Incentive Program, items larger than 18 inches x 14 inches x 8 inches or greater than 20 pounds and sold through Amazon must be designed and certified as ready-to-ship under the FFP program by Aug. 1. To encourage early adoption of this program, Amazon is offering a one-time early adopter credit of $1 per unit to vendors that certify their items before Aug. 1, 2019 and will issue a chargeback of $1.99 per unit beginning on that date.

“As a member of the APASS network, Cascades will be able to help its customers in three ways—by making sure that their products are well protected, by offering our customers sustainable solutions that also provide the best customer experience possible and by enabling our vendor and manufacturer partners to align themselves with Amazon’s requirements,” says Charles Malo, president and chief operating officer of Cascades Containerboard Packaging.

Cascades’ R&D Centre, a private Canadian research center, has implemented an internal quality system to ensure that the company provides consistent service quality. The company is able to conduct baseline testing on boxes and components—liner and medium—as well as competitive analysis, root cause analysis and qualification testing of individual packages or pallets, Cascades reports in a news release.

“E-commerce represented 14.3 percent of total retail sales in 2018 in the U.S., and Amazon is an important part of this,” says Danick Lavoie, vice president of operations and packaging at Cascades Containerboard Packaging. “Our goal at Cascades is to partner with our customers as they grow their e-commerce business, and by joining the APASS network, we can offer our clients the essential services they need to successfully certify their packaging with Amazon.”