Europe’s largest load carrier portfolio ensures constant availability of pallets, even in the current economic boom
Cologne, January 22, 2018 – The good economy brings with it a bottleneck on white pallets. In particular, exports make a return of white pallets difficult. CHEP offers a counter-concept to the scarcity of white exchange pallets: the pooling expert delivers its blue load carriers in the desired quantity to the right place at the right time.
Driven by the export boom and rising investment, Germany is heading for the highest economic growth in six years in 2018. As a result of the good economy, pallet manufacturers are finding it increasingly difficult to meet the increased demand for load carriers, according to the Federal Association of Timber Packaging, Pallets, Export Packaging (HPE). Waiting times of several weeks for load carriers are currently common, according to a CHEP release, reporting that companies are threatened by high additional costs or even a production stoppage due to a lack of pallets.
EPAL recently released the results of its record-breaking 2017 pallet production and repair statistics. “The current demand peaks can be cushioned with sound planning and a long-term partnership between EPAL pallet producers, suppliers, and customers,” commented Martin Leibrandt, CEO of EPAL. “Trade and industry partners who planned at an early stage and who value long-term supplier relationships are being well provided for. The outstanding 2017 figures are the result of the joint work of all EPAL National Committees and licensees, and a sign that trade and industry are increasingly relying on independently tested quality and safety, which pay off in the long term.”
CHEP pooling: renting instead of buying
With 120 million pallets in circulation and 220 service centers in Europe alone, CHEP states that it offers its customers an unparalleled reach for their business growth. In contrast to the exchange procedure, pooling guarantees a constant availability of pallets with constant quality even with peak demand for goods “made in Germany”. According to the principle “rent instead of purchase”, customers pay only for pallets until they leave the production site. The return of the load carriers and their cleaning and maintenance or replacement are organized by CHEP, and as such are no longer an area of risk for the customer.
“With pallet pooling, we offer companies the constant availability of the desired load carriers without any quantity restriction even in a boom,” reports Kai Derda, Managing Director of CHEP Deutschland GmbH. “Our business model adapts to the organic growth of companies as well as to a booming economy. When exporting abroad, white swap pallets are lost to the German market. Thanks to the pooling principle, CHEP is constantly redirecting pallets back to its original markets, thus maintaining its worldwide existence.”