COVID-19 has changed everything, and it is even affecting how companies look at their pallets.
A leading materials handling publication, Modern Materials Handling, recently highlighted six major pallet trends that pallet suppliers have noted this year. The comments are based on insights from Litco International, CHEP and Orbis. COVID-19 as well as changing customer sentiment and retail practices are driving these trends.
Bridget McCrea, editor of MMH, wrote, “With Covid-19, social distancing rules and workplace shutdowns affecting the business environment in 2020, pallets are playing a critical supporting role in the smooth running of the supply chain.”
“Pallet purchasing trends and quantities are changing during this period of uncertainty,” said Gary Sharon, vice president at Litco.
The six trends are concern over pallet hygiene, products being made in the U.S.A., increasing popularity of point-of-purchase (POP) displays, increase in smaller footprints for smaller stores, a collaborative approach to sustainability and carbon neutral pallets.
It isn’t clear how prevalent these trends are, especially for white-wood pallet customers. But these are certainly things that alternative pallet suppliers are discussing with end users.
McCrea wrote, “Some pallet users now have a high concern about their pallets’ hygiene and chain of custody and, as such, are looking for ‘clean’ pallets.”
Some companies are looking for American-made products with a known chain of custody. Sharon explained, “People are saying, ‘well maybe we need to make more things here in the United States.’” He added that this sentiment results from the “goal of securing the supply chain and being able to better monitor quality and the hygienic aspect of pallet production.”
This sanitation concern is also a driver for more POP display pallets that reduce the amount of handling of goods by warehouse workers. Changes in store formats, particularly in urban areas, are changing pallet sizes. McCrea explained, “With retailers opening more smallerformat and specialized stores, pallet makers are reimagining their product lines to support this trend. In many cases, the movement is driven by the urbanization trend.”
Skinnier pallets are easier to move and utilize in smaller store formats. And of course, most major companies are concerned about the environmental impacts of their packaging, logistics and materials handling decisions.
Jason Adlam, vice president of new business development for CHEP, said that more companies are ramping up their sustainability goals and initiatives right now. The next level for many of these companies is their logistics efforts to eliminate waste and optimize transportation networks.
Another method that CHEP is using to move the sustainability discussion is its new carbon-neutral, half-pallet product. This 40 x 24-inch pallet goes beyond just pooling. CHEP has calculated the carbon footprint for these pallets and purchased carbon offset credits to balance the impact. Adlam explained, “Companies using this pallet can also account for any carbon benefits and sustainability benefits for their [individual] reporting structures.”
When it comes to sustainability, wood pallets are about to have a big weapon to use against alternative materials.
Brad Gething, the director of science and technology integration at the National Wooden Pallet & Container Association (NWPCA), spoke at an industry event earlier this year where he talked about the development environmental product declaration (EPD) for wood pallets. This independent assessment looks at what a product is made of and how it impacts the environment across its entire life cycle. EPDs are commonly used to make environmental decisions about the green benefits of various products.
Gething celebrated that the wood pallet sector will be the first packaging material in the supply chain to have an EPD. He said, “Everyone else is going to be playing catch up with us.”
The EPD for wood pallets is a joint project of the NWPCA in collaboration with The Pallet Foundation and researchers from the Forest Service. Results from the EPD are expected to be released later this year.
Are some of the ideas and trends mentioned here just the latest buzzwords or lasting change that will affect pallet purchases well into the future? It may be hard to know right now, although customers still care a lot about pricing, pallet performance and on-time delivery. Regardless, it is smart business to keep up on the latest customer trends and perceptions. The pallet solutions that win in the end will have to adapt to an adjusting world. Nothing seems to be immune from the impacts of COVID-19 as well as e-commerce and other changes in the supply chain.
