Protecting your investment
April 1st 2011

Steve Penney from Craemer UK outlines options for ensuring traceability of plastic pallets in the supply chain, including the company's PalControl concept

With millions of pallets circulating in the UK supply chain, either involved in manufacturing or as part of distribution networks, losing pallets can be costly, especially if they are plastic. It is inevitable that some pallets will get lost in transit but pallet management can play an important role in minimising that loss.

After all, with the cost of timber pallets increasing over the last few years and continuing to rise at an accelerated rate, businesses have been seeking alternatives.With firms also looking for greener solutions, more companies are considering the use of returnable plastic pallets. They are not only more durable and hygienic, they can be more easily traced in transit.

Traceability can be achieved in two key ways.

1) Bespoke colours and markings In order to easily identify ownership of plastic pallets and make them stand out from others, certain minimum quantities can be individually customised to include printed or embossed company logos and names that can be visually identified on inspection.

Alternatively plastic pallets can be manufactured in a customer's corporate house-colours or using two distinct colours in one pallet. This makes them very easy to identify in the supply chain, in transport or storage.

2) PalControl As well as special markings and colours, PalControl can help with traceability. It is Craemer's latest technical achievement: a concept for multi-purpose pallet traceability and security, achieved using RFID technology.

PalControl combines transponders with multi-purpose pallet concepts. This provides industry, businesses and pools with intelligent load-carriers. It also leads the way to improved rationalisation in logistics, where current identification systems, such as barcodes no longer fit the bill.

The RFID technology used within the pool streamlines the process of plastic pallets used within multiuser applications. The system uses two EPC gen 2 transponders embedded within the pallets and they are scanned using the UHF signal from a handheld device. This handheld scanner can read the data from several metres to ensure quick and accurate input of the pallets from the shipper into the receiver's custody. The data is transferred via GPRS onto the internet portal from where the pallet movements are logged. Subscribers to the system can easily trace and identify the actual situation of where the pallets are located in real time.

Whole stacks of empty pallets can be logged back into the system in a single scan. The speed, accuracy and security of the system completely removes the need for manual counting and paperwork. This in turn minimises errors and saves time which results in costs savings for the participants.

Starting with customer consultation on pallet supply and integration into already existing logistic systems, Craemer can offer an all-in-one solution, in co-operation with our experienced system partners. The aim of PalControl is to provide greater efficiency of commodity flow by optimising work processes by means of logistic pallet control and the multiple circuits of goods by using RFID technology.

With Palcontrol, customers reap the benefits of RFID technology as each pallet can be identified and is traceable throughout the suply chain, while other important information can also be linked to provide an up-to-date overview of both costs and stock that brings transparency in your logistics.

The transparency of both costs and stock ensures a highly efficient pallet management system. Regardless of the location and time, the Internet portal conveys the corresponding overview of the current situation. This allows users to control their pooling costs directly.

RFID chips are already built into certain of the Craemer plastic pallet ranges as standard and the cost is absorbed in the pallet price. The majority of costs incurred by companies setting up a monitoring system to track pools of pallets relates to the acquisition of associated software and hardware.

Companies providing a totally managed pooling system for Returnable Transit Equipment would normally base costs on the number of trips and required security of the system to minimise loss. The equipment is not owned by the user so there is no requirement for a capital spend. The basis of the system is a high quality pallet that is tailored to the specific application of the users business, be it food processing or distribution of finished engineered parts. This combined with the tracking technology ensures that the pallets are available as and when required in good clean condition to fulfill the distribution function.

More modern logistic supply chains are adopting methods of traceability and as a result there is steady growth of pallet sales with embedded RFID chips. A major food company is currently using PalControl with its five major suppliers. This system has been in place for more than two years with very good results.

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