ISSUE 4 2011


PALLET NETWORKS Pall-Ex goes for European glory


Pall-Ex celebrated its domination of Europe in mid-June with the launch of its Pall-Ex Iberia hub and the signing


of a master


licence agreement in Romania, which it said would lead to the first ever pallet network in Eastern Europe.


The new Iberian hub is in Madrid and services Spain and Portugal though a 30-member strong network, processing 211 pallets on its first night of operation. The network was established in 2010 and can now deliver consignments of palletised freight cost-effectively throughout the Peninsula and the Balearic Islands - Pall-Ex Iberia operates the only pallet network in the latter.


In Eastern Europe, the Pall-Ex Romania network will operate from a new hub in Sibiu, which is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2011, the first of its kind in the region.


Pall-Ex chief executive Hilary Devey commented: “The successful launch of Pall-Ex Iberia


represents our second


Pall-Ex network on mainland Europe. Now that


businesses


within the Peninsular can see the operation running smoothly, we are confident that we will revolutionise the delivery of palletised consignments in the same way that we have in the UK and in Italy. This will lead to the growth of our membership and the coverage strength of our network.”


She described the new network in Romania as “a landmark phase in our ambition to build a pan-European palletised freight network to distribute small consignments across the continent cost effectively and quickly.” Pall-Ex is now planning further expansions in Germany, France, Benelux, Turkey and Poland.


Project director, Anand Assi, explained that the company’s philosophy was to build domestic networks and business in the different European countries first and then to develop international lines hauls between them – it is only by having the domestic network in place that pallet operators can offer a true quality international service, he argues.


In other networks, he explains, “often the last mile is provided by ‘A.N. Other’ and the last mile


21


UK Pallets seeks European growth


is often the most problematic. You need partners that you can trust.”


He added: “As volume increases and the appropriate critical mass is achieved, pan- European


connections will


ensue. We are also in the process of implementing the TWINE enabling tool for moving the freight across borders across all our networks.”


“East Europe with its largely untapped


demand are particularly promising for pallet operators ”


been signed with a primary partner and is preparing a hub facility in Sibiu. A 24-hour delivery service will be available in most of the country, with some outlying areas served on a 48 or 72-hour basis, although Assi predicts that much of the initial demand to be for the economy 48-hour service, with more users switching to the 24-hour option as the business develops.


with


East European countries their


largely untapped


demand are particularly promising markets for pallet operators; in Romania, he believes, Pall-Ex is offering the first genuine integrated hub and spoke network. “It’s a growth economy, foreign direct investment


is booming and


there are opportunities with the port of Constanza with traffic arriving from China and all over the world,” he says.


Poland is another country earmarked for early development but perhaps a more surprising choice for a Pall- Ex network is Turkey. “We’re currently seeking out financially- sound


partners.” Anand Assi


Pall-Ex now has three domestic networks


(four, counting


Portugal and Spain as separate territories) but it is ambitious for more. The Iberian network, which went live on 3 June, may only be handling small numbers of pallets at the moment, but all the networks, the UK included, started small with just 113 on its first night but has grown into a 9-10,000 a night operation. Italy is now regularly moving 1,800 pallets a night.


Pall-Ex has now turned its attention to Romania, where a master licence agreement has


Again, Pall-


Ex plans to offer a nationwide service – taking in the much larger Asian part of the country as well as the European portion of the country centred on Istanbul. Business in the country tends to be centred mainly on greater Istanbul and the main port cities along with Ankara, but there is no reason why Pall- Ex should not offer a nationwide service,


though the country’s


sheer size might make it difficult to offer a 24-hour service. Western European markets like France, Germany and Benelux – all included in Pall-Ex’s future expansion plans - already have a lot of competition from more traditional freight operators as well as the


integrators but Assi believes that pallet operators can bring the benefits of a single, organised system. “In other networks, members can often pick and choose; they may work for two or three organisations – it’s often a very loose arrangement. Our philosophy though is that you need that element of exclusivity.” Ultimately, Pall-Ex will develop comprehensive international services between


its various


territories. This of course has existed for many years, but Assi believes that Pall-Ex will be able to break out of the traditional point to point model and offer “a more sellable product”. Pallet networks offer a unitary service with very specific service levels, the main differentiator being that instead of working on the traditional measure of dimensions and weights (which can become complicated and expensive at Networks offer


times), more specific service.


Meanwhile, he says, the search goes on for suitable partners in all territories where one has yet to be signed up. Pall-Ex is aggressively targeting pan-European growth and is seeking out financially sound, operationally capable and strong-network minded companies. In a statement, Pall-Ex explained: “We are seeking the right partner to engage with us and share in our European vision. We see that Europe will offer not only our UK members a strong European solution in the future but also provide the benefit of handling UK deliveries on behalf of European members. We see that this will provide economies of scope and scale as Pall-Ex continues to develop in the future years.”


Pallet customers a


Whilst


its name


might


suggest otherwise, European and international traffic is a key element at UK Pallets, says commercial director, Graeme Wilson. “We are already experiencing ever increasing demands from our existing customer base to provide services to destinations around the world.” UKP also recently introduced an on line quotation and booking system that allows members


and customers to


obtain an instant service and pricing quote for any palletised consignment destined for anywhere in Europe. Continental Europe is catered for through a longstanding relationship between UK Pallets and one of its member


companies. For any worldwide consignments, UK Pallets also has many longstanding and established


relationships with


specialist service providers. Operating as a division


within the one of the country’s largest parcels carriers, UK Mail Group, UK Pallets says that it is unique in that it is a member of its own network and covers a large Midlands customer base. Furthermore in operating some 40 plus vehicles of their own, UKP is uniquely placed to be able to support the network should a member have difficulties or poor service levels be encountered. The UK network itself covers the whole country – including the Highlands & Islands - and the Republic of Ireland daily.


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