The introduction of the Ultra Pallet® into the manufacturing processes of Coca-Cola FEMSA (KOF) Colombia has brought important cost-saving benefits and enhanced the overall efficiency of its operations.
The company chose PTM’s Ultra Pallet® to solve maintenance and reliability problems it was encountering through the use of wooden pallets.
The use of wooden pallets created a long-term investment burden due to their reduced lifecycle, breakage and contamination issues, and ongoing maintenance costs. These problems, when considering the continuous use of pallets required in manufacturing, storage and transportation, was reducing productivity levels of the company’s supply chain.
In 2012 KOF Colombia decided to migrate to the Ultra Pallet®, acquiring approximately 60,000 PTM pallets to replace half of the 120,000 pallets they had. According to test conducted at Virginia Tech´s Center for Packaging and Unit Load Design, the Ultra Pallet® has a useful life of up to 150% longer than the life of a conventional plastic pallet.
One of the main benefits that KOF Colombia has obtained through the usage of Ultra Pallet® is the elimination of maintenance costs. Along with its impact resistance, the plastic composition is particularly important in eliminating potential contamination due to the humidity of the region, which can promote excess growth of mold and bacteria on wooden pallets when they are placed outdoors.
Additionally, three unit loads of Ultra Pallets® can be stacked on top of each other. Previously, only two unit loads could be stacked because of the instability of wooden pallets.
“The Ultra Pallet® has worked out well and met our expectations. It has allowed us to optimize our logistics processes and resulted in significant savings, as well as advantages in transportation, warehousing and the optimization of secondary packaging,” explained Roberto Quintero, Senior Engineer at Packaging Engineering in Coca-Cola FEMSA.
The Ultra Pallet® also provides environmental benefits through life cycle longevity and material recyclability at the end of its useful life.
With more than 37 years in the market, PTM, a FEMSA Group business unit, serves customers in different industries including the food and beverage, automotive, and retail sectors. PTM operates state-of-the-art production facilities for different plastic processing operations: blow molding, injection molding, thermoforming and extrusion.