Pleasing to the Pallet
unloading times, as well as increased productivity–and shippers don’t have to make costly capital investments. Orlando, Fla.-headquartered CHEP is a leading player in the pallet and container pooling services sector. It manages the daily movements of more than 280 million pallets and contain- ers in 44 countries and touts Procter & Gamble, SYSCO, Kellogg’s, Kraft,
the pallets or containers to the nearest CHEP service center. “The main benefit for shippers is that pallet pooling complements the Hours of Service rules. If trailers load faster, and the driver is waiting on the clock, that’s an obvious productivity gain,” says Per Ohstrom, director of market- ing for CHEP USA. By pooling pallets, shippers can save
accumulate if they need to allocate space and resources in their ware- houses for repairs. Pooling pallets also offers some envi- ronmental benefits. “In a life-cycle comparison, pallet exchange generates 7.5 times more solid waste, consumes 28 percent more total energy, and produces 30 per- cent more airborne and waterborne emissions than pooling pallets,” says Ohstrom. “CHEP pallets are repaired and reused indefinitely, which is very sustainable packaging.” CHEP is also looking to integrate RFID technology into its product line to offer yet another strategic advantage. Some of its largest retail customers are running trials with RFID-equipped pallets, which yield better inventory control and allow supply chains to run leaner. RFID shipments can also be traced more easily in case of a prod- uct recall. “The CHEP Plus ID product offers pallets equipped with an RFID tag placed to provide a 100-percent read. A small department at CHEP works with industry in the development and sales of RFID. It also consults with cus- tomers because the process is so new that users have to be educated,” says Ohstrom.
Pallet maintenance costs can be substantial if companies have to allocate space and resources in their warehouses for repairs.
By pooling pallets, shippers can save between $ 1 .50 and $ 2 .00 per trip.
Plastic pallet manufacturers such as JECO are already perfecting techniques to embed RFID tags in their pallets. JECO’s unique molding process pro- vides an element of security because no other plastic process can handle RFID. “RFID tags inside an injection mold cannot withstand 1,200 degrees of temperature,” Kensill says. “Some security printers are very concerned about tracking their pallets. The
Nestle, The Home Depot, Unilever, Hewlett Packard, and General Motors among its customers. Its pallet pooling service works like this: CHEP issues ready-for-use pallets and containers from its service cen- ters to customers who then load their goods and ship their products through the supply chain. When the shipment reaches the end of the line, the con- signee off-loads the goods and returns
between $1.50 and $2 per trip, which is substantial considering that buying a low-end stringer pallet costs $8 to $10. “Shippers pay less out of pocket to rent pallets, as opposed to pooling them, but greatly reduce product dam- age and gain supply chain efficiencies,” Ohstrom adds. Another advantage to pooling pal- lets is that shippers don’t have to worry about maintenance costs, which can
128 Inbound Logistics • July 2007
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