French Logistics Firm Relies On Craemer

Craemer plastic pallets e1591105688771 — CS1 plastic pallet inventory in one of the 29 warehouses of the logistics company of a large grocery group in France.

The logistics company of the fifth largest French food retail group is converting to plastic pallets for internal distribution and, as a result, is now building up its inventory of them. For the flow of goods between its 29 warehouses and the approximately 1,600 supermarkets in the chain, the freight forwarder has invested in 330,000 plastic pallets: the CS1 pallet from Craemer. The first pallets were delivered in 2018, the entire order quantity is expected to be in use from the summer of 2020. According to Craemer, the main reasons for the switch from wood to plastic: the improvement of working conditions for warehouse employees, increasing automation, and a policy of sustainability.

The logistics company employs 5,000 people and delivers 1,800 trucks with 700 million packaging units annually. The freight forwarder uses the plastic pallets exclusively for the palletizing and transport of mixed picked items – so-called heterogeneous pallets – to supply the approximately 1,600 supermarkets that are supplied directly from the company’s own warehouses.

“The almost closed upper deck of the CS1 is ideal for holding sacks, cardboard boxes, and other packaging units,” says Cyril Wahl, Sales Director at Craemer France Sarl. “Thanks to the three metal reinforcements, the pallet is able to hold up to 1,000 kilograms on the high rack. Since the freight forwarder also equipped his truck trailer with pallet racks, we have provided the CS1 with special, non-slip runners for this customer. This solution ensures that the pallets resting on the smooth and narrow shelf supports are prevented from slipping during transport. ”

According to a company spokesman, the logistics company is pursuing several goals with the switch to plastic. On the one hand, it will be important in the future to only use load carriers that work with the automation technology newly introduced in the company’s own warehouses. Deformed wooden pallets threatened to block the mechanical conveyor belts. With its own inventory of plastic pallets, the dependency on the wooden pallet is also reduced and a seamless flow of goods along the supply chain is ensured. On the other hand, it is important to improve the working conditions of the warehouse employees and thus to take account of corporate social responsibility. Going forward, the risk of injury from wood splinters has been averted.

According to the company, another key criterion is the sustainability of the Craemer range. “The fact that the CS1 is made from regenerated, high-quality hard polyethylene (HDPE) from reliable sources and that we take it back for recycling at the end of its service life corresponds to the environmental management of the retail chain, which pursues a policy of sustainable development,” says Wahl. Another plus point of the CS1: Like all other Craemer pallets, it is extremely resistant and has a lifespan of several years even with high turnover rates – thanks to its design and one-piece production using the injection molding process.

Source: Craemer

Rick LeBlanc

Rick LeBlanc, EMBA, is the founder and editor of Reusable Packaging News (subscribe to the free newsletter) and editor of Western Pallet Magazine. A supply chain journalist with more than 30 years of experience, he specializes in pallets, reusable packaging, material handling and related operations. Rick is co-author of Pallets: A North American Perspective and Pallets & Progress: A Collected History of Pallets and Palletized Handling 1922–1945. He is also an advisory board member of the Virginia Tech Center for Packaging and Unit Load Design. Read Rick’s full bio.