The European Pallet Association and Bureau Veritas recently celebrated the 10th anniversary of their cooperation. Since 2013, Bureau Veritas has been responsible for the quality assurance of EPAL pallets and has performed over 250,000 inspections. Due to the success of the cooperation, EPAL and Bureau Veritas have agreed to continue the joint quality assurance of the EPAL open pallet pool for the coming years.
In any pallet pool, particularly an exchange pool such as EPAL, the maintenance of pallet quality is crucial to success. The high quality of EPAL pallets is the basis for simple and safe logistics processes and, thus, for the great acceptance of EPAL pallets in all industry, trade, and logistics areas. The international uniform quality of EPAL pallets is the constant and independent quality assurance, which is one of the core tasks of EPAL, in addition to the organization of the exchange pool. Quality assurance is carried out by Bureau Veritas, one of the world’s leading companies in testing, inspection, and certification (www.bureauveritas.com).
Bureau Veritas and EPAL: quality partnership since January 2013
The quality partnership between EPAL and Bureau Veritas has been in place since January 2013. A review of this time impressively shows the importance of Bureau Veritas’ quality assurance for EPAL’s success. From 2013 to 2022, EPAL Europallet production has grown from 65 million EPAL Europallets to more than 100 million EPAL Europallets annually. This was only possible because the quality of EPAL Europallets is the recognized benchmark in pallet logistics, thanks to Bureau Veritas quality assurance.
“On the 10th anniversary of the cooperation between EPAL and Bureau Veritas, we would like to thank Bureau Veritas and all inspectors and staff for their great support in making EPAL the market leader in open pallet exchange,” stated Dirk Hoferer, President of EPAL. “The daily commitment of Bureau Veritas staff in Europe and many other countries worldwide ensures the quality of EPAL pallets and thus the international use and exchange of EPAL pallets.”
Each year, more than 25,000 inspections are performed by Bureau Veritas inspectors. That’s more than 100 inspections every working day and more than 250,000 inspections in the ten years of EPAL and Bureau Veritas’ partnership. This is only possible because Bureau Veritas has offices and staff in all countries internationally where EPAL pallets are produced and repaired. Proximity to the customer and short distances correspond perfectly with the open EPAL pallet pool principle.
“Bureau Veritas has more than 82,000 employees in 140 countries,” reflected Daniel Jarzabkowski, Business Unit Director of Bureau Veritas Industry Services. “Our goal is to ensure compliance with standards for products and processes so that the products meet all applicable requirements for quality, health and safety, environmental protection and social responsibility. EPAL pallets embody these goals in the best possible way. We are pleased that we have been able to be part of the open EPAL pallet pool for ten years.”
EPAL pallets are a striking example of comprehensive quality assurance’s importance in achieving sustainability goals. Internationally uniform quality and standardization are the prerequisites for exchanging EPAL pallets. Both are guaranteed by Bureau Veritas quality assurance, which enables the long service life of EPAL pallets and the associated protection of the environment and resources. Thanks to the cooperation between EPAL and Bureau Veritas, EPAL pallets, therefore, meet all the requirements for sustainability in the logistics of industry and trade.
On the anniversary, EPAL and Bureau Veritas agreed to continue cooperating for the coming years. This guarantees the future quality and success of the open EPAL pallet pool.