News - Tagged: block pallets
2013 Pallet Usage and Trending Survey
Each fall, Modern Materials Handling conducts and publishes an annual pallet survey that provides valuable insight into current buying trends and usage patterns for our industry. If you aren’t a subscriber to MMH, or you haven’t had time to read Bob Trebilcock’s Talking Pallets with Modern Readers, we have prepared a summary of key findings for your review.
The study is based on responses from 353 qualified MMH readers employed at locations using pallets. At the 30,000 foot level, the survey results suggest the pallet market will grow annually by 3.5% through 2017. Although price remains the most commonly cited factor influencing a purchasing decision (56% of respondents, down from 63% last year), cost-per-use was cited by 43% or participants this year. This trend suggests that pallet buyers remain concerned with costs but that logistics professionals are taking a more long term view when evaluating suppliers. Other key considerations cited in this year’s survey include:Continue Reading…
CHEP v. 9BLOC and the Case for Molded Presswood Pallets
Attempts by Wal-Mart, Costco, and other mass retailers to minimize product damage and create greater handling efficiencies have helped the block pallet supplant the stringer pallet in recent years. Initially, the big box block pallet preference prompted many manufacturers to consider solutions from CHEP, a global leader in the pallet rental market, servicing over 300,000 customers worldwide. Although CHEP offered a universally accepted big box pallet solution, the ubiquitous sea of blue came with a price. Some manufacturers disliked the notion of a forced partnership with a distant, corporate entity capable of exercising such control over the supply and demand of the pallet pool. With fewer suppliers contributing to the pool, manufacturers found themselves facing a pallet market fraught with uncertainty. Other manufacturers were reluctant to end longstanding relationships with local pallet suppliers. Despite these concerns, the tide had shifted, and at least in the mass retailer world, traditional stringers lost favor to newer, more expensive block pallets.Continue Reading…
CHEP and Big Box Retailers Make Presswood Pallets a Cost Effective Alternative
Jeff McBee’s recent article appearing in Pallet Enterprise offers a fascinating look at the impact of CHEP and mass retailing on the pallet industry. U.S. pallet manufacturers and recyclers viewed CHEP’s initial foray into the domestic market with much trepidation. As an international provider of pallet and container pooling services for retail and industrial supply chains, CHEP stood well positioned to dramatically change the pallet industry in the early 90’s.
The mid 1990’s saw CHEP’s domestic pallet pool achieving critical mass and a decline in white wood (non-rental) pallet production. By the end of the decade, retail giants such as Wal-Mart and Costco had partnered with CHEP and abandoned their traditional reliance on white wood pallets. The decline in new white wood pallets flowing into the logistics supply chain led to a corresponding aging of the pallet pool and a subsequent drop in quality. Recyclers accustomed to hauling away used pallets at no cost began paying for their cores.Continue Reading…