An employee measures the dimensions of a transport bag

Development & Quality

At Halfar System, it’s all about solutions. That’s why we offer more than just the product itself. Services form an integral part of what we offer. They play a key role in making our products even more comprehensive and durable. For us, considerations regarding the product’s creation – including conception, choice of materials and design – as well as its use, transport and even disposal are a natural part of the process. Ensuring safety and durability also play an important role. In this way, alongside our products, we develop sustainable services such as our repair service, which benefit not only our customers but also the environment. As a DIN ISO 9001:2015-certified company, we follow defined and regularly audited processes in product development, procurement and finishing. In this way, we ensure that sustainable innovations, key trends and customer feedback are incorporated into our developments and processes.

In-house product development, prototyping and industrial property rights

Employees are measuring and inspecting a bag design by Halfar

At Halfar System, we develop our products entirely from scratch, with over 20,000 styles already under our belt. Our in-house design combines our research, ideas and solutions into a cohesive whole. Customer requirements and new innovations are brought to life for the first time, eventually taking shape in three dimensions at the prototype stage. Bags for special applications and new innovative solutions are prototyped directly at our Bielefeld site. With 3D printing, CAD-based pattern creation, state-of-the-art infrastructure and the expertise of our employees, we are able to produce our prototypes directly on site and test them together with our customers to ensure optimal functionality. Our prototype development in Bielefeld is complemented by further local prototype facilities at our production sites across Europe and Asia, which allows us to maximise our innovation capacity, production reliability and speed. We are committed to ensuring that intellectual property is fully protected and preserved. As a company, we respect the intellectual property rights of third parties, including designs, utility models and patents, and ensure that our own industrial property rights are not infringed.

We always take extra care to:

1. Select materials that are environmentally friendly, durable and capable of withstanding heavy use, in line with customer requirements. We are also pay attention to the economical use of materials while ensuring our products are compliant with relevant standards and ready for market.

2. Ensure our production and logistics processes are as efficient as possible in terms of both energy and resources.

3. Check that our production facilities comply with guidelines for decent working conditions to ensure that our products are not made in exploitative conditions.

Halfar Testing System

We ensure that our products and services are ready for market, which means they not only comply with legal requirements, but also often exceed them. Our products are tested for harmful substances by means of an extensive testing system. This means, for instance, we contractually require our suppliers to ensure that none of their supplied goods and products, including packaging materials, contain substances of very high concern (SVHCs) in accordance with Article 33 of the REACH Regulation. We check compliance with this obligation with the involvement of independent accredited laboratories. On the basis of our Halfar testing system, we can also ensure compliance with special industry-specific standards and specifications for our customers on request. Additional tests include the ones we run on the physical and mechanical properties of our products, as well as the durability of the material and workmanship. While we already have our own infrastructure in place for this, we also draw on the expertise of accredited testing laboratories as required.

Testing labs check the materials as part of Halfar's quality control process

Product Quality Assurance

Staff discuss the new advertising bags from HALFAR®

In addition to the chemical and physical tests, we also check the quality and processing of our products at the factory. Halfar quality inspectors check compliance with the requirements in accordance with the AQL (acceptable quality level) standard. Adherence to Halfar’s quality benchmarks is monitored through spot checks, with the results from the representative samples compared with pre-defined acceptance criteria. If the Halfar quality requirements are not met, the appropriate corrective action is initiated. This process allows us to ensure that the manufactured products meet Halfar quality standards. We also take care to strike an appropriate balance between quality assurance and production costs, and ensure we use raw materials and resources sensibly. In addition to the direct checks during and after production, we check the goods arriving in Bielefeld again for compliance with other quality criteria. For this purpose, we have established a cross-departmental quality team that is dedicated to other quality-relevant topics in addition to the tests. The aim of this collaboration is to identify sources of problems, develop and implement solutions, and transfer the findings to the specialist departments upstream. In this way, risk factors can be avoided or eliminated.

Logistics and Transport Control

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Our approach to strategic procurement and manufacturing in Asia involves careful consideration of spatial and timing factors. The aim here is to streamline and manage the flow of goods to ensure a smooth and continuous supply. We mitigate any logistical risks by carefully planning ahead and strive to make optimum use of freight capacities. This not only prevents costs, but also ensures that emissions are reduced to a minimum. In the same way, we optimise transport to and from our European manufacturing facilities. Our logistics focus on maximising load efficiency, avoiding empty runs, and preserving resources as key metrics. The availability of storage facilities is also essential for efficient planning of production and procurement. In line with our corporate focus on sustainability, we have invested in a large logistics warehouse. With 7,102 m² of floor space and 11,300 available pallet spaces, not to mention its ideal location in the heart of the largest market in Germany, it has offered optimal conditions that also benefit the environment ever since it opened in 2019. The warehouse was built with sustainability in mind, resulting in significant carbon reductions from the outset. By consolidating warehouses, we have been able to achieve a considerable reduction in travel distances. Read more about our warehouse here.

Sustainable range planning

Set of three sustainable promotional bags with HALFAR® branding

The Halfar stock range is tailored to the needs of our customers, who use bags as a means of communicating their brands. It offers functional, durable and attractive products for a wide range of uses, target groups and price points. Unnecessary, short-lived or products manufactured under poor conditions do not find their way into our range.

We keep up to 4 million items in stock for our customers at our modern logistics centre. To ensure this is achieved in line with sustainable business practices, our product range development and procurement are guided by integrated sustainability principles. From in-house design, through the selection of materials and optimised logistics, to the financial support of climate protection projects, we are constantly working to use resources efficiently and to identify and implement opportunities for improvement to reduce the environmental impact and greenhouse gas emissions associated with our stock programme.

Holistic approach – continuous range evolution

We are continuously developing our warehouse programme in line with our sustainability strategy. We continue to pursue the approaches outlined in the previous chapter in a considered and purposeful manner, and are not distracted by short-lived, fashionable trends. We do not factor in developments that appear to be sustainable but are not, or at least not yet, ecologically sound. However, we do monitor their development. Examples of this include composites of renewable, natural raw materials with plastics or adhesives, which are currently not recyclable. Should a technology or material emerge that is more sustainable than the current standard and is also scalable, we will incorporate this innovation into our product range development and make it available to our customers. Furthermore, the new solution must provide our customers with an economically viable alternative to the existing market offering, ensuring that the innovation has a tangible impact and positive effects. To identify such solutions, we collaborate with a diverse range of partners, including material suppliers, laboratories, and universities. We engage in regular dialogue with our partner companies and numerous other stakeholders on sustainability and product development topics, enabling us to develop innovative and award-winning approaches and models.

Current measures and key figures in the sustainability report

A range of promotional bags from HALFAR® made from sustainable materials

ClimatePartner certificate for Halfar as a climate-neutral company

Emissions Calculation

The basis for the continuous reduction of our greenhouse gas emissions is a transparent and traceable recording of the emissions associated with our stock range. To this end, we calculate a Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) for our stock items. The calculations are carried out in accordance with the internationally recognised Greenhouse Gas Protocol Product Life Cycle Accounting and Reporting Standard and are conducted in collaboration with ClimatePartner.

For our calculations, we use the ‘cradle-to-customer plus waste’ approach. This takes into account greenhouse gas emissions across key life cycle stages of our stock items – from raw material extraction through material processing, production, transport and packaging to delivery to our customers and the disposal of the products. The only emissions not taken into account are those arising during use by the end customer, as these cannot be clearly defined or measured.

Supporting climate protection projects

Preventing and reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a priority for us. Nevertheless, the manufacture of our stock items and our business operations generate emissions that cannot yet be completely avoided.

In addition to our own measures, we have been supporting internationally certified climate protection projects through financial contributions since 2022. We base the level of our commitment on the previously calculated greenhouse gas emissions from our stock range. Where possible, we support projects in the countries where our products are manufactured. In doing so, we place great importance on recognised quality standards and on projects that can make a positive long-term contribution to climate protection and sustainable development at a local level. ClimatePartner publishes transparent information on the climate protection projects currently supported on the respective project page.