SERVICES
THE PALLET NETWORK, Northwest Business Park,
Blanchardstown, Dublin 15. T: 01 8219999.
Successful
networking
Foundedin1994,ThePalletNetworkis
nowaleadingdistributorofpalletised
goodsinIreland,plusithasalso
revampedthehaulagescenehere
‘If the conditions are right,
we will build a replica hub
withacommonyard
between them. We already
have plans for that’
Also shortlisted in
the Environmental
Sustainability category
Seamus McGowan and Owen Cooke
I
N these times, it’s difficult to imagine a business is done correctly and consistently, so a member in Done- road. Also, TPN members use double-decked trailers
that’s both recession-proof and environmentally gal is doing exactly the same as a member in Wexford. that can carry twice the capacity of an ordinary trailer,
friendly, but a centralised, integrated network of Every single member of TPN is ISO 9001-accredited by the and its hauliers are delivering goods in both directions,
hauliers is meeting the credit-crunch needs of National Standards Authority of Ireland,” explains whereas most hauliers only deliver one way.
smaller enterprises while at the same time ensuring McGowan. “The other advantage is that our members meet in the
there are fewer trucks on our roads. Managing director TPN also provides access to over 90 TPN hauliers in the hubatnight.Iftheydidn’thaveanetworklikethis,they’d
of The Pallet Network (TPN), Seamus McGowan is jus- UK, to which it is linked. This ensures members can have be up in Dublin during the day trying to do their work and
tifiably proud of its success. goods delivered to anywhere in Ireland or the UK on a 48- clogging up the city centre. There’s less traffic at night,
Having spent 13 years working with a major haulage hour service. “The service level is very high because sothey’renotontheroadaslong,”saysMcGowan.Allof
integrator in the UK, McGowan returned to Ireland to join every member is delivering another member’s pallet this adds up to a much lower carbon footprint.
Independent Express Cargo (IEC), based in Blanchard- freight. It’s one big reciprocal operation.” As well as being green, TPN is also on trend for saving
stown. He recognised a need for a hub-and-spoke distri- From small beginnings, the company has grown dra- money in these recessionary times. “We’re good at small
bution model in Ireland and, together with IEC’s matically.“Westartedin2004withabout150palletsper consignments. At the moment, companies are selling less
chairman, Owen Cooke, went about setting up TPN. day. Now we’ve 23 hauliers, bringing in total almost so loads are smaller, which suits our network. In addition,
“We said to ourselves: ‘what if we could bring hauliers 1,500 pallets per night. Each pallet weighs around 300 people who have their own trucks are now looking at sell-
from the country into a central hub at night in Dublin, kilos. It could contain anything from a Honda motorbike ingthemoff.Ratherthanhavingafleetoftrucksanddriv-
andthenbeabletosaytoallthosehauliersyoucannow to food. The success of TPN meant that the first building ers on their books when their production is down, they
sell nationwide?’ So, we went around the country and got only lasted for a year and a half. So, in 2007, we built a are now looking at joining a pallet network. A business
the initial 10 hauliers to start working with us.” The sys- secondhub,whichcost¤10m,”saysMcGowan. like ours is therefore somewhat insulated from the gen-
tem allowed the hauliers to send their pallets to anywhere “Whatmakesusdifferentisthatwe’retheonlyoneswho eral trend.”
in Ireland the next day because if, for example, one haveawarehousethisbig—100metreslongand80 McGowan is so confident of TPN that he’s even talking
haulier came from Limerick with pallets for Belfast there metres wide. Five double-decked trailers can be handled of expanding. Brave words these might be but, like his
would be another one from Belfast there with pallets for at the same time within the building, and there’s enough trucks, they’re not empty. “We’re definitely looking to
Limerick, and so on. space for them to pass each other out.” expand. If the conditions are right, we will build a replica
TPN acts as the facilitator for its members, providing Having hauliers use one large centralised hub also has hub with a common yard between them. We already have
warehousing and electronic transport management sys- environmentalbenefits.Whileanindividualhauliermight plans for that. Hopefully, it will happen within a year and
tems and ensuring adherence to TPN standards. have 50pc of his truck used, trucks in a network are gen- a half if the price of land continues to drop. It’s an ill wind
“We put in the procedures to make sure that everything erally 80–90pc used. This means fewer trucks on the that doesn’t blow some good!”
WWW.SFA.IE/AWARDS
SFA NATIONAL SMALL BUSINESS AWARDS 21
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40