Flexible pooling at fair conditions

Christian Kühnhold, CEO of Pooling Partners and responsible for PAKi Services, kicks things off: "As a long-standing service provider in this segment, we are very familiar with standard commercial practices. Our customers use our services to simplify the pooling of exchangeable load carriers.

Our aim is to make optimum use of the flexibility of the Euro pallet exchange pool and to increase the efficiency of this system. We organize the needs of users in the supply chain throughout Europe in such a way that costs for empty transports are eliminated and all quality requirements are met. If everyone involved in the supply chain uses the system responsibly, processes can be optimized and costs saved.

"The open pool is by definition the only one that can be used universally."

Christian Kühnhold CEO PAKi Logistics Photo: PAKi Logistics

A key issue here is the practiced sorting of qualities in distribution centers and the associated processing with the pallet bill from the service provider used by trading companies. If the pallet bill used cannot be transferred to third parties, the flexibility of the open pool is restricted at this point. The holder of the certificate is forced to follow or claim the processing of the issuer. In cooperation with GS1 and representatives from industry, trade and logistics companies, the tradability of the pallet bill is being promoted. Our aim is to ensure that this document, which has been used and proven for years, remains transferable in order to give all parties involved the opportunity to use it in the most favorable way.

We also focus on efficiency when sorting qualities. The aim is to separate large quantities with minimal inspection effort. Anything else causes costs at the expense of other participants in the supply chain. We distance ourselves from competitive business practices in the open pool that unnecessarily burden processes with additional costs. Our offer is tailored precisely to the requirements of our customers.

"The Dachser and PAKi networks can complement each other and develop a profitable and sustainable European collaboration."

Jens Müller Head of Network Management Organization at Dachser Photo: Dachser

For several years now, we have been using a quality system that our customers can use as a guide. The right quality at the right price is part of our offer and the advantage of the open pool. By supplying the higher quality and returning other usable qualities, our refinement exchange enables us to balance our stocks without constant growth through external purchases.

Mismatched goods flows cause expensive empties overhangs

Many logistics and transport companies make use of this service, in addition to industry and trade. Processing over long distances, both nationally and across European countries, is particularly sustainable and cost-efficient. Our European focus enables many of our customers to optimize their international pallet management. Unpaired flows of goods cause excess empties, which are compensated for by taking them back throughout Europe. In return, other locations are immediately supplied with the right quality. We offer this not only for the Euro pallet, but also for other exchangeable load carriers such as the Euro pallet cage or Düsseldorf pallet. The logistics company Dachser, for example, uses our service in particular for goods flows to France, but also to Poland and other European countries.

Intra means: Men...

Or to put it another way: Man, man, man ... I don't want to get all girly here again and refer to female intuition and our diplomatic powers. But it is also clear that the currently smouldering pallet exchange dispute (which is not the subject of the article on this page, but is also a topic of conversation in the industry) is superfluous and does more harm than good to the market as a whole. A round table is needed, which should only be left once a solution has been found. Throwing sand in a well-running gearbox is childish. What am I saying, manly!

The advantages of the exchangeable Euro pallet are obvious. Depending on needs and requirements, each user can decide flexibly which solution is the most cost-effective. Whether on their own or with a service provider. The open Euro pallet pool is the only one with approx. 500 million Euro pallets in circulation, approx. 450 certified production companies and approx. 1,000 repair companies, making it the largest in Europe. We are unable to quantify the number of users. But due to the nature of the system, we dare to say: "Countless". The open pool is by definition the only one that can be used universally."

"PAKi solves the quality difference for us on a project basis"

Jens Müller, Head of Network Management Organization, European Network Management & Logistics Systems at Dachser, sees the situation as follows: "At Dachser, we often require higher qualities when loading for our customers. These are as good as new (analogous to GS1 class A), machine-compatible (analogous to GS1 class B) and occasionally new Euro pallets, which are delivered by PAKi as required. The pallets are returned to the delivery points of Dachser customers or to Dachser branches with excess empties, which are distributed throughout Europe, usually in mixed, usable quality. In most cases, we can only use a limited number of these pallets at the respective location and then simply return the overhangs to PAKi. In this way, PAKi solves the quality difference between delivery and collection for us on a project-specific basis. At the same time, we avoid having to return empty pallets over sometimes Europe-wide distances. This is precisely where Dachser and PAKi's networks can complement each other and develop a profitable and sustainable European collaboration."

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