In 2007, Coca-Cola HBC Poland began a decisive fight against pallets that did not meet the required standards. Initially, actions were taken within the organization. The first step was to entrust the entire pallet issue to one person – an employee of the Operations Department, who was personally responsible for both the operational and cost aspects. A new procedure regarding pallet circulation was created and implemented at the beginning of 2008. A transparent method for reporting pallet circulation was developed. All warehouse staff and carriers were trained. Management staff was involved in the process. Thanks to these actions, not only did knowledge regarding the pallet circulation process itself increase, but so did awareness of the costs associated with this issue.
Coca-Cola HBC Poland decided to entrust its pallet management to a specialized company, which not only handled sorting, repair, and later the legalization of pallets, but also helped diagnose many areas that allowed for tightening the entire pallet system. A specialized company responsible for the legal disposal of wood scrap was also invited to cooperate. Furthermore, a series of actions were carried out with suppliers and recipients, focusing on retail chains, with whom transparent criteria regarding pallet standards, rules for determining pallet balances, and their exchange were established. These actions certainly led to an improvement in the process and, at the same time, strengthened cooperation between all its participants.
In parallel, cooperation with organizations responsible for pallet issues in Poland was strengthened. Above all, there was close cooperation with the Polish National Committee of EPAL, which is responsible, among other things, for the EUR pallet standard. PKN EPAL conducted training sessions, and most of the changes introduced in Coca-Cola HBC Poland’s procedures were consulted with its representatives.
Cooperation with the ECR Agreement was also tightened, which made it possible to exchange experiences and knowledge with the most important participants in pallet circulation in Poland, as well as allowing the company to participate in creating pallet circulation standards. One example of such participation is the co-creation of Pallet Assessment Cards.
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” 2/2009.