Auchan Retail France, a French food and non-food retailer, has switched from wooden to plastic pallets in its logistics centers and store areas. This has resulted in better product presentation on the store floor and improved protection for employees against musculoskeletal disorders.

"We employ more than 300 people in our 70,000 square meter warehouses in western France. People are at the heart of everything we do and we want to reduce the risk of accidents at work and the occurrence of musculoskeletal disorders," explains Marc Lahousse, Director Region West. The company has thoroughly examined the working environment of logistics employees and implemented various measures together with employees to improve working conditions. This also involved replacing the wooden pallets previously used with plastic pallets. Previously, there were regular injuries when using wooden pallets - such as skin injuries from splinters and nails and back pain from carrying wooden pallets that were too heavy. After all, a wooden pallet that has absorbed moisture weighs between 22.5 and 27 kilograms.

Two options discussed
There were two approaches for Auchan: either to equip all warehouses with automatic destackers or to switch to plastic pallets. "At first, we thought about an automatic pallet denester. A solution that can be used in the warehouse but not on the store floor. With bottlenecks and the need to switch back to manual handling in the event of a breakdown, this would not have worked. In addition, the pallet denesters would not have solved the problem of splinters and nails. That's why the decision to use plastic pallets was an obvious one," explains Marc Lahousse.

Auchan obtained various offers from plastic pallet manufacturers. In the end, the choice fell on the Belgian family business Smart-Flow. "We chose Smart-Flow because we were impressed by their presence, professionalism and solution-oriented approach. Smart-Flow supported us in all phases of the project - from the creation and design of plastic pallets to their use and handling by our operators. A real partner in logistics that we can rely on and with whom we can continue to grow together," says Marc Lahousse.

Arguments in favor of the plastic pallet
By switching to plastic pallets, Auchan was able to halve the pallet weight to ten kilograms - an advantage for all logistics and warehouse employees. The pallets can be used along the entire logistics chain, from storage to order preparation, goods transportation and delivery to the stores. In addition, the honeycomb structure of the pallets prevents the ingress of dust and facilitates cleaning for better food hygiene. Thanks to the robust design, the pallets can also be used in different storage and transport conditions - at different ambient temperatures for consumer goods or refrigerated environments for fresh produce. All pallets are marked with the Auchan logo for quick pallet identification and simplified return.

Another advantage is that Smart Flow pallets can be perfectly integrated into wire containers, allowing trucks to be loaded higher. At the end of the product life cycle, the pallets are 100% recycled in line with the company's CSR policy.

Improved product presentation
Plastic pallets are often used in retail as sales islands, columns or pedestals. Stacked on top of each other, they present the products in the right light on the sales floor. For example, 25,000 plastic pallets from Smart-Flow were purchased to stock all Auchan stores in the French West sales region.

The switch to plastic pallets is paying off for Auchan in many ways. "As you can see on our notice board, we have already been accident-free for 104 days. We have successfully integrated the plastic pallets into our processes and our employees appreciate the positive changes to their working environment," says a satisfied Lahousse. With an average of 35 rotations, the plastic pallets from Smart-Flow are well above the originally calculated break-even point of 26 rotations. In comparison, a European wooden pallet manages an average of seven to eight rotations and then has to be repaired at great expense. The number of accidents at work also fell significantly.