Nestle Waters to use iGPS pallets

Company says the new pallets will reduce product damage.    Nestle Waters’ North America has incorporated iGPS Logistics pallets into its shipping platform for its Poland Spring water.
   “This improved pallet solution will reduce product damage and improve operational efficiencies,” said George Sheats, Nestle’s strategic procurement manager.
   The company said the move aligns it with a commitment to improve and develop new efficiencies within its supply chain that can also be shared with customers.
   iGPS plastic shipping pallets are designed to replace wooden pallets, which can be hazardous due to breaking and splintering. Wooden pallets can also be sized inconsistently, presenting a problem for suppliers who design packaging to fit a consistent platform size.
   According to iGPS, the platforms are “35 percent lighter than typical multi-use wood pallets,” requiring less fuel for transport and reducing transport costs. The pallets measure 48 by 48 inches in order to enable larger load patterns and contain radio frequency identification tags embedded into the plastic.
   iGPS ran a 60-day pilot program with Martori Farms, a large produce company headquartered in Scottsdale, Ariz., back in 2007.
   The test led Martori Farms to acknowledge, depending on shipment destinations, when using plastic pallets, “the freight component of our customer’s cost is reduced by anywhere from 5 cents to 20 cents per unit.”