CHEP Pallecon Solutions expands service to cosmetic and personal care manufacturers
Widely known for their success in reducing costs and increasing efficiencies in food and beverage supply chains, CHEP Pallecon Solutions is also proving its value to the cosmetic and personal care industries.
CHEP’s fully outsourced container management solutions help cosmetic, and personal care manufacturers overcome the challenges associated with the packaging of non-hazardous ingredients, such as surfactants, essential oils, preservatives and other bulk liquids. Providing hygienic, FDA-approved reusable containers and solutions that allow customers to minimize product loss and contamination, reduce packaging costs, improve sustainability and eliminate waste in their daily operations.
Since implementing CHEP’s FDA-approved reusable container solutions, TRI-K Industries, who specialize in the global distribution of cosmetic ingredients, has seen a 10 percent cost saving as a result of increased fill weights, better utilization of space, lower container costs, and reduced freight costs. In addition, TRI-K has realized better inventory management, improved sanitation, and a reduced carbon footprint. Helping TRI-K, and their customers alike, to create a safer and more efficient supply chain. Read the full Case Study here.
“We are excited about providing packaging solutions to reduce waste and eliminate issues for cosmetic and personal care companies,” said Chris Bomgaars, Director of Sales at CHEP Pallecon Solutions, “There is a great opportunity to welcome new customers and foster a more inclusive business.”
In April, CHEP attended the Midwest SCC Teamworks conference. Meeting key industry players to discuss the industry’s current supply chain and packaging practices, needs and challenges, and understand how better to support the industry going forward. Providing solutions to help cut cost, eliminate waste and mitigate risk in the supply chain. To find out more about CHEP container management solutions, visit www.cheppallecon.com.
Goplasticpallets.com team cycle Tour de France challenge for charity

Dan Starnes and Denzil Davies of Eastbourne based Goplasticpallets.com, the UK’s leading independent supplier of plastic pallets and containers, will embark on the biggest physical challenge of their lives when they cycle an endurance testing 910km through stages 8 to 12 of the Tour de France as part of the Tour de Force five-stage challenge. Their aim is to raise over £2,400 for the William Wates Memorial Trust.
“I have been driven on to train hard and complete the challenge in the knowledge that every penny I raise will help disadvantaged young people fulfill their potential,” said Denzil Davies.
This Tour de Force challenge will be a first for both team members as neither has cycled such a spectacular or testing journey before. 47-year-old Denzil has already experienced the very hilly Pyrenees on his trusty motorbike; however, for Dan, this will be his first encounter with the French mountains.
Both cyclists have been clocking up the miles in the last 10 months. Their training routes have taken them all over the South Downs, from Rye to Tenterden, through Crowborough and Lewes to Newhaven. In early July, the cyclists will explore the roads into the Pyrenees, tackling mountain climbs on Andorra’s highest road pass, before enjoying a steady decent onto the Garonne plain and then crossing the Languedoc-Roussillon and Bouches-du- Rhone regions.
“It’s going to be a tough and enduring ride, but I’m determined to complete this adventurous challenge and raise as much as I possibly can to support the great work that the trust does,” said Dan Starnes.
If you would like to help the charitable cyclists exceed their target of £2,400, please sponsor them via their www.virginmoneygiving.com fundraising pages by entering their names in the Make a Donation area.
Swisslog Warehouse and Distribution Solutions announces new appointment, new regional software and controls hub for the Americas
Michael Howes has been named Vice President, Software and Controls, of Swisslog Warehouse and Distribution Solutions (WDS) Americas and will lead the newly formed Software and Controls Hub from Newport News, VA. The new Hub strengthens Swisslog offerings by integrating FORTE’s software while also constructing a powerful common platform for its customers.
Howes, who served as Vice President, Software and Controls, for Swisslog business unit FORTE Industries for the last ten years, will lead a large team of software developers and controls engineers. The team is geographically dispersed across Swisslog offices in Newport News, Mason, OH, Lathrop, CA andTlalnepantla, Mexico. The consolidation of these resources into one Software and Controls Hub will permit Swisslog to deliver exceptional customer value and cost-effectiveness, as well as improve the supportability of the software platform. The Hub will also provide region-specific functionality and market insight to the software team at Swisslog’s worldwide level.
According to Markus Schmidt, Senior Vice President, Swisslog WDS Americas, “Mike Howes brings nearly 25 years of software development and management experience in the financial services, transportation and logistics industries to his new position. He is widely recognized in our industry as an expert in the emerging category of warehouse execution software (WES) and I welcome him to our senior management team for the Americas.”
Added Howes, “I’m most excited about combining the talent and expertise of the Swisslog, FORTE and PAS software and controls teams into one unified team. We have a unique opportunity to bring to the market and our customers a best-in-class warehouse execution system (WES). While our collective experiences are actually quite diverse, we have a unique opportunity to combine those experiences into a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.”
Other key members of the management team for the new Software and Controls Hub include Steve Thorne, Director of Software, and Francis Said, Director of Controls. Both Thorne and Said are veterans of Swisslog.