Inbound Logistics | May 2026

PALLETS, ELEVATED

solutions, including reusable pallets and other containers and racks that can reduce costs and enhance protability. Across all its work, ORBIS is focused on sustainability and circularity. “It’s very important to us to keep supply chain packaging materials in use for a long service life,” says Zach Thompson, product manager. Many ORBIS employees are experts in integrated, reusable packaging and its role within automation and other systems used within distribution centers and supply chain operations. Supply chains that offer an easy path to returnability for products like pallets can result in signicant cost savings, Thompson says. Say a company makes product X and sends it to distributor Y, which sends it to retailer Z. When there’s a clear path of recovering that pallet, reusable pallets offer signicant gains in return on investment (ROI). As companies repeat the cycle multiple times each year, they can gain tremendous returns on their investment. “The investment into reusables is going to pay back many multiples of times, because they offer more usage before needing replacement,” he adds. Nestable pallets can offer even greater cost savings, as they require a fraction of the space of normal or block pallets during return trips or in storage. MEETING SUSTAINABILITY AND AUTOMATION GOALS Independent testing has shown that ORBIS’ agship plastic pallets can be used up to 400 cycles, Thompson says. Moreover, when a plastic pallet nally reaches the end of its life, it can be recovered, reprocessed, and recycled into another pallet. ORBIS is able to recover and reuse not just its own pallets, but those from many other manufacturers. With most packaging solutions, safety and hygiene are serious concerns. That’s especially so when shipping food and pharmaceutical products. ORBIS’ pallets, because they’re made with non- porous materials, lack hidden cavities

ORBIS Corporation optimizes supply chains with sustainable packaging solutions, including reusable pallets and other containers and racks.

and then forming it into a specic shape. Robinson’s product lines include pallets, lids, and trays. There are many ways that companies can use pallets to operate more sustainably and within automated environments, Thompson says. “Those are growing parts of the industry and we’re happy to help companies meet their goals around sustainability and automation,” he says. PalletTrader SIMPLICITY, EFFICIENCY, AND CONTROL FOR PALLET MANAGEMENT Many large, enterprise shippers often need a mix of pallet solutions, says Jessica Dzugan, vice president of technology at PalletTrader. For instance, a manufacturing company shipping to big box retailers might be required to use rental pallets, but then use whitewood, which is typically lower in cost and has less management complexity, for all other distributors. Until a few years ago, introducing a diversied pallet program was hindered by the fragmented nature of the market,

in which contaminants could collect, and feature contoured surfaces that can drain easily when washed as well as comply with multiple hygiene and safety standards and regulations, such as the Food Safety Modernization Act. ORBIS worked with a large grocery retailer with operations in both the United States and Europe, and that is working to increase the percentage of recycled content in its supply chain. One way ORBIS is helping the company meet this goal is by making pallets that use recycled resin. Another way is by making greater use of post-consumer BoPP, or biaxially oriented polypropylene. BoPP is widely used in consumer packaging that often nds its way to landlls. The material can be recovered, cleaned, and remade into new products like pallets, Thompson says. “We’re helping our customers reuse product packaging materials and achieve their circular economy goals,” Thompson says. ORBIS recently acquired Robinson Industries, a pioneer in thermoforming, or heating a plastic sheet until it’s pliable,

62 Inbound Logistics • April 2026