The joint success story of the two companies began back in 2004 with Contraload's first order from the experienced producer of plastic pallets. Last year, the two companies decided to pool the experience and knowledge gained from their 14-year partnership to design a new plastic pallet that is fully tailored to the daily needs of the Belgian pooling company and its customers.

The close collaboration has now resulted in an optimized version of the CR3 hygienic heavy-duty pallet, which has been successfully used in the pool for many years and incorporates the technical and operational expertise of both companies. A five-runner CR3-5 with reduced weight and increased impact resistance was developed. In addition, further optimizations were made which, among other things, further improve the cleaning properties of the pallet in the automated washing process.

"The CR3 pallet has been one of our strongest and most reliable pallets since our pool was founded. Taking this pallet to an even higher level was a challenge that kept us busy, from the selection of raw materials and production to issues such as wear and tear in handling and recycling. But thanks to good and intensive cooperation, we have succeeded in reaching the next level," says Erik Marinissen, Area Sales Manager Benelux & DACH, Contraload.

A step towards the circular economy
Another project objective from the outset was to create a pallet from selected recycled materials in order to take an important step towards a circular economy. Contraload and Craemer have further strengthened their cooperation in this area in order to be able to guarantee high product quality in the future by selecting the right materials and at the same time meet the sustainable requirements of the project. By bringing together technologies, ideas and expertise, profitable improvements in the process flow can be achieved for everyone involved - from the producer and pool service provider to the end user. Contraload has ordered an initial volume of 50,000 plastic pallets made from recycled material for its pool outside the food industry, which will mark the start of production of the optimized CR3-5 ECO pallet.

Expected to be available from May this year: The CR3-5 ECO pallet with RFID tag. © Contraload

"Craemer has been developing and producing high-quality plastic pallets for over 50 years and always keeps its finger on the pulse with new developments and product optimizations. When developing this optimized CR3-5 pallet, we focused on the practical experience of our long-standing partner Contraload. The aim was to be able to jointly offer the end customer an attractive product that meets the requirements of modern processes," adds Thomas Göbel, Sales Manager Plastics at Paul Craemer GmbH.

The "new" CR3-5 will be manufactured from the end of February and is expected to be delivered to the first customers from May 2019 following successful quality testing. The plastic pallets will be fitted with RFID tags to enable real-time traceability. In view of the ongoing activities and joint projects of this kind, both companies are looking positively to the future and will continue to use their long-standing, trusting partnership to rethink processes.

About Contraload:
Contraload is a pan-European pooling company that was founded in 2004. With one million high-quality plastic pallets in the pool, the Belgian company is the market leader in the B2B FMCG supply chain. Contraload's product and business models are innovative and support the needs of its customers. As a result, growth of more than 20% was recorded in 2018 and the company expects a similarly positive development in 2019. In addition to plastic pallets, Contraload also offers foldable large containers for the storage and transportation of liquid and dry goods as well as plastic layer pads for the canning and beverage industry. With over 130 employees and local representatives in most European countries, the pioneer for the reuse of load carriers expects a positive future.