mfl: What special measures have you taken in recent months?

Falkenhahn: We have taken care to maintain and further sharpen our typical company profile: Very lean structures are important to us in every respect. In purchasing, we have always maintained direct contact with important suppliers and direct deals. We reduce hurdles and unnecessary bureaucracy by developing and maintaining the relevant expertise ourselves. Direct contact is also important to us in sales, starting with the initial acquisition contacts that we like to make at trade fairs. This is also where we showcase our innovations, for example in the area of automatically identifiable RFID pallets and their use.

mfl: How do you deal with supply bottlenecks for wood, how are you affected by them?

Falkenhahn: Of course, wood is in short supply on the global market and in Germany too. After all, wood is an indispensable raw material for construction, and in view of today's low interest rate policy, attractive real estate is an important form of investment. In addition, the demand for wood as a raw material for industrial packaging has also increased due to the good economic situation. With our production capacity of ten million pallets per year, a smooth supply of raw materials is of vital importance. We have therefore secured our wood supplies well. On the one hand, our large stock of sawn timber is an important buffer for production. On the other hand, when it comes to purchasing, we rely on partners who we can trust to buy large quantities. We negotiate with these suppliers directly and without detours. In this way, we receive the quantities of wood that we need. However, only quantities and availability are currently negotiable. The strongly fluctuating daily price is determined by the market. This strong volatility also means that we are forced to adjust our pallet prices on a weekly basis.

mfl: How do you obtain the required quantity of pallet nails?

Falkenhahn: Pallets are held together by 78 special nails in various designs in accordance with DIN EN 13698-1. We have World nails specially manufactured for us in accordance with the standard. Their design and quality are decisive for the load-bearing capacity of the pallets. When it comes to procurement, we also rely on long-term contracts with our partners. Here, too, we are confronted with daily prices.

mfl: How do you ensure your ability to deliver?

Falkenhahn: We maintain our supply chains and ensure that they function properly. In our own production process and in sales, we attach great importance to regular checks and inspections of our machines and processes, as stipulated in our DIN ISO 9001:2008 quality management system. Finally, Falkenhahn AG and its processes are certified by ESC-Cert. Large stocks of sawn timber and several daily productions of world pallets are available to ensure our ability to deliver. We deliver these at short notice, but are also always ready to deliver when customer vehicles arrive.

mfl: What have the past few months brought for the World brand?

Falkenhahn: The market for Euro pallets is obviously stabilizing again at the moment. In recent months, we have been able to win back many old customers that we used to serve. Given the current shortage of load carriers, it is obviously most important that they comply with the applicable standard. The production of World pallets is subject to strict quality controls by TÜV Thüringen. Production samples are regularly tested in accordance with the specifications of the "Type 1 quality standard". World pallets are easily exchanged according to the quality classes as recommended by GS1. As is the purpose of a standard, standard-compliant products are recognized as equivalent. Brands are increasingly receding into the background.

mfl: How will your business develop by the end of the year?

Falkenhahn: Our sales volumes, prices and turnover have increased in recent months and we expect this trend to continue. The purchase of raw materials and pre-materials is also the decisive benchmark for us, even though purchase prices have risen.

The article appeared in materialfluss issue 8-9/21.