The Craemer EURO H1 plastic and hygienic pallet sets standards on the European food and meat branches

Seven years of practice are proving it. The EURO H1 plastic and hygienic pallet has made its way as a standard in the meat industry. This fact is confirmed by the results of a study made late in 1999, asking whether or not the customers were satisfied.  Down the line, there was a positive rating for the hygienic pallet. Particularly the high share of pleased customers who do not want to have the choice of alternative pallets, are giving a clear vote for the standard pallet.

The meat industry nowadays would be unthinkable without the plastic pallet Craemer Company developed especially to meet the EHI requirements. It is according to all standard requirements of this particular trade and offers the following advantages: In addition to being compatible with the E1 to E4 boxes it can be used with all temperatures imaginable during operation, in the cool-storage depot as well as in the high-temperature sections, meeting extreme mechanical and thermal conditions. This means that it can just as well be used in high racks as in all automatic conveying and storage systems. In the practice it has become apparent that plastic pallets can be used repeatedly and that, compared with wooden pallets, rather little loss has to be taken into account. The outer rims assure a very good load security.

A further positive criterion the EURO H1 offers is the lack of hollow space on the top of the pallet body. Possible hairline cracks or damage therefore does not create condensation and germ spread which occasionally occurs to closed plastic pallets or, even more often, to wooden pallets. For this reason there are absolutely no bacteriological thus no hygienic problems with the EURO H1 which can easily be washed in normal commercial washing installations. This is why the EURO H1 hygienic pallet is rated according to HACCP requirements.

The most important quality a standard pallet has to offer is the equivalent exchangeability required at the loading ramps. This means that the use of pallets in the operation circuit requires an efficient pool management and simplified logistic procedures in order to establish a pallet standard and minimize the risk of loss, even more so for plastic pallets than for wooden ones because of their longer service lives.

These conditions are met nowadays in the meat industry. The trade pool backs on the standard EURO H1 hygienic pallet. In this connection, a study has been made by EHI, late in 1999, in order to find out whether the customers were still satisfied.

As an essential result, the inquiry proved that the EURO H1 held a market share of 75% in the distribution of fresh meat and of 58% in the meat processing industry.

In the inquiry were rated the essential criterions a pallet had to offer. These are the criterions solidity, load capacity, weight, automation capability, stacking security, and price.

The biggest point of criticism was the purchase price often compared, in this line like many others, to that of a wooden pallet without taking into consideration the better and longer service life of the pallet. The solidity of the pallet, qualified by the breaking rate, has been marked “good” (mark 2: good) by the questioned persons. The other criterions of efficiency were also marked “good” or better.

The question whether or not an alternative had to be developed to the “original” EURO H1 hygienic pallet, was negated by a clear majority (90%) of the questioned persons. On the contrary, it was even feared that the handling at the ramp might become more complicated if a new pallet was introduced.

Result of the interview: People were satisfied with the existing system on all distribution levels and saw some opportunity for improvement in the exchange system.

Published in the journal "Fleischwirtschaft",

Paul Craemer GmbH
Brockerstraße 1
D-33442 Herzebrock-Clarholz 
Germany
Fon: +49 (0) 5245/43-0
Fax: +49 (0) 5245/43-201
e-mail: info@craemer.de