Pallet firm Chep to broaden out Premier Foods initiatives

By Rod Addy

- Last updated on GMT

Related tags Pallet

Pallet firm Chep to broaden out Premier Foods initiatives
Premier Foods' work with Chep, the pallet and container pooling firm, to cut costs and road miles will form part of a wider initiative on CHEP's part...

Premier Foods' work with Chep, the pallet and container pooling firm, to cut costs and road miles will form part of a wider initiative on CHEP's part among customers across Europe.

Chep used supply chain mapping for two major projects in conjunction with Premier.

Premier general manager Jeff Snelling said: "We challenged Chep to demonstrate a way of working together for the future which could both reduce impact on the environment and create cost savings."

The first scheme focused on identifying the number of times pallets were handled, with a view to reducing that and so cutting fuel usage.

"We have looked at the way pallets are managed in the supply chain," said Chep account manager Andrew Moreton. "We found pallets were being touched 16 or 17 times and are looking to reduce that. It's making sure you have consistent, standard touch points.

The second project focused on 'empty leg' running ensuring space on lorries delivering pallets to Premier and collecting them from retailers was used as efficiently as possible. "We're trying to match the empty legs of Premier with the empty legs of our fleet," said Moreton. Both initiatives began in June last year and are ongoing, thanks to an extension to Chep's existing contract with Premier.

Chep had also been looking into making efficient use of lorries carrying ingredients to Premier, said Moreton. "You need to understand the flows of raw material going into the depots. Lorries are coming into the UK full and going back empty." He said Chep could use the outbound trucks to transport pallets to factories in the rest of Europe.

On that subject, last month Chep announced a deal with Stobart Rail to use its rail freight service, established in conjunction with DB Schenker, transporting fresh and ambient produce from Spain to the UK. Chep is using the return rail trip to transport 12,000 pallets, which would otherwise have been carried on 30 trucks, to customers in Spain.

Chep's work with Premier on efficient vehicle usage was going to be the tip of the iceberg, said Moreton. "We cover the whole country, serving 40,000 retail locations. This could well become wider. We need to ask: 'what can Chep do working with processors, hauliers ... ?'"

Supply chain mapping exercises would be made considerably easier with the addition of Masternaut Three X vehicle tracking technology, which Chep was rolling out across its vehicle fleet, said Moreton. "You can work out how many trucks you have, where they are and for how long." That would enable Chep to crack down on idling time and thus fuel costs, he said.

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