Furniture Maker switch from wood to plastic pallets

Durability of Plastic Pallets Maximize Efficiencies in the Supply Chain of an American Furniture Maker: A leading manufacturer of office furniture and space solutions
decided to switch from wood to plastic pallets. The global and publicly traded company headquartered in Michigan comprises several brands and sub-brands and supplies customers globally with a network of over 800 dealer locations. This requires efficient logistics with reliable transport solutions. The company relies on the Nest US5 (CPP 336) plastic pallets from CABKA_IPS, among others to meet its logistical needs.

Quick Facts

Company	Not Specified
Location	Texas, USA
Industry	Office furniture and space solutions
Goods	Components and finished products
Previously	Wooden pallets

Solution	Nest US5 (OD-6R) / CPP 336
Quantity	1,300 pcs. (August 2015)

Major Achievement
Significant cost saving by raising number of trips per pallets before breakage from below 2 trips to up to 24.

Requirements

Previously, wood pallets were used at the Texas location for the transport of individual components and finished products. The biggest problem: 80 percent of the wood pallets were breaking within fewer than two transports.

The company invested more than $1,400 (more than €1,200) per week on purchasing new pallets. In its search for a more efficient and cost-effective solution, the company came across CABKA_IPS.

The Solution

After an intensive test phase, we delivered a total of 1,300 Nest US5 (CPP 336) plastic pallets to this furniture maker in August 2015. The universal pallets made of HDPE and PO recycled materials are suitable for medium dynamic loads of up to 5,300 pounds (2,400 kilograms). The nestable variant significantly reduces storage and transport costs.

Moreover, the plastic solutions are much more robust than the traditional wood pallets which is essential in a forklift environment. After switching from wood to plastic, the company now gets up to 24 trips with the pallets resulting in significant cost savings. Another advantage: The pallets can be added with serial numbers. This allows the staff to track where the pallets are at all times.

»We are very pleased with the plastic pallets from CABKA_IPS.
These are much more robust than wooden pallets, which allows us to lower our costs significantly.«

Process and Materials Engineer

Product Details

Nest US5

Dimensions: 48 x 40 x 5.9 " | 1219 x 1016 x 150 mm
Weight (HDPE, ACM) : 31 lbs, 33 lbs | 14 kg, 15kg

Top deck: open (OD) 
Bottom support: 6 runners, snap on (6R) 
Material: HDPE or ACM

Load capacities: 
Static: 17600 lbs | 8000 kg
Dynamic: 5300 lbs | 2400 kg
Racking: 1300 lbs | 600 kg

Safety rim:  0.2 inch | 48 mm
Nesting height: 1.9 inch | 5 mm

FURTHER DETAILS