Significance of Pooling Solutions for E-commerce Companies
With the global pandemic, a flexible supply chain has become essential for responding to unexpected situations and meeting higher demands. Also, there is an increasing awareness amongst shoppers regarding the environmental impact of their online purchase. However, the pertinent question is how to start an efficient, flexible, and sustainable supply chain.
It is here that pooling solutions come into the picture. Once a customer orders, their physical product is placed within further packaging for shipping. It is then packed in a plastic or wooden pallet for transportation. Though it is not visible to the buyers, it forms the protective layer during transport and storage.
The product packaging and outer box might be intended for single use, but there are still multi use benefits from transportation that utilises pooling solutions.
Why Pooling Solutions?
The products are shared and re-used in a pooling system instead of bought. As a result, businesses can save significant costs on waste, reduce carbon emissions and limit consumption of natural resources by sharing pallets.
Pallet pooling has been popular in the FMCG market. However, it can become more prevalent in the industries of consumer electronics, toys, textiles, and more. In these sectors, plenty of work is still being done with exchange and disposable pallets.
As mentioned above, the pandemic has changed the way businesses operate. It has increased the pressure on companies to transform their models and turn them into sustainable and future-proof systems.
Even the most prominent businesses across the globe are taking to the pooled pallet system. It is now reflected in e-commerce sectors as well. Retailers are looking forwards and significantly shifting to green supply chains and opting for reusable solutions for the supply chain. It is a positive point for both brick-and-mortar and click-and-mortar businesses, as they can use the same delivery solutions.
Benefits of Pallet Pooling
The sharing and reusing system is straightforward and safe. Excellent quality pallets are exchanged with low-quality or damaged pallets. For a supplier, it means investing in good quality pallets to retain their stock. With the pooled pallet system, the complicated and pressurised task of pallet exchange is removed for manufacturers, transporters, and retailers.
Each pallet in the pooling system is checked for quality after use. It is evaluated for consistency in condition, which reduces the risk of damage. It also decreases the chances of goods being returned due to damaged packaging. Another benefit of pallet pooling is that there are no hidden costs, unlike exchanging pallets that come with additional fees and risks which can affect the supply chain.
The more companies become a part of the pooling and sharing network, the more flexible and efficient it becomes. Such a system responds rapidly to the increased demand for services during peak phases, such as the end of financial year or Christmas, or other unexpected situations like the Covid-19 pandemic.
If your business is considering switching to a returnable and reusable asset management structure, the following key points may be useful. Let’s take a more indepth look at how some of these benefits can help companies manage their packaging and supply chain.
● Reducing costs and management
If a business chooses to buy their own pallets, they are also required to maintain and repair sufficient stock levels. They must also exchange or dispose of them and organise the return transport. All of this adds up to significant extra costs and management resources.
Renting pallets via the pooling principle means that a business has to only pay for the pallets in use. It frees the company from high capital outlay and enables it to focus on its core business.
● Availability
Another advantage of opting for a pallet pooling system is flexibility. However, the pooling system works best when it is supported by a strong and large network. The more companies joining the chain, the more efficient the process becomes. It makes the availability of pallets stronger due to the scale and density of such networks. As a result, it becomes possible to respond to changing needs quickly, whether it is unexpected demand or seasonal peaks.
● Automation
When pallets are exchanged, there is a risk of inconsistent quality. It can lead to product damage and delivery refusal later on. It leads to more replacements and repairs. The pooling solutions collect and dispatch pallets back for inspection. They are evaluated and reconditioned to make sure that they continue to meet required standards.
One significant yet less talked about benefit of the wooden pallet collars pooling system is the lower environmental impact. As the items are shared and reused, they make for a sustainable solution with a longer lifespan. The Australian government has introduced various policies to promote sustainability and reduce waste to encourage companies to consider how they move goods. Wooden pallets pooling can be a first step for many sectors to shift towards greener, more sustainable supply chains.