Ahrma Holding BV’s new pallet combines new innovative materials with The Internet of Things in logistics, using state-of-the-art intelligence, and managed pool and rental services.
It creates optimal supply chain control, lower supply chain costs and sustainability benefits. Currently a small group of triple-A launching customers are commercially testing what’s touted as a “pallet loaded with innovation.”
The company believes the pallet industry hasn’t shown any major innovation in the last 50 years, saying that the new pallet fits into the new economy of sharing, preserving and sustainability.
The Ahrma pallet combines the best characteristics of both wooden and plastic pallets. It uses a technique of spraying the PU-Coating Elastocoat® C of BASF on a specially developed wood composite inner structure, developed by Greenpanel. This helps create a pallet with superior strength said to be more durable and lighter than other types of pallets. The pallet is produced in components and assembled with a special Henkel-developed adhesive at the first point of usage.
Regarding The Internet of Things, an embedded transponder in each pallet has several radio-protocols: a long-range protocol for factory and warehouse wide coverage and a short-range protocol for smartphone scanning.
Transponders communicate with intelligent low-cost receivers mounted at strategic places on the customer premises. The system offers benefits in the reuse transport packaging market. Its assets can be tracked and traced in real time with little operator input, with minimal costs or investments in infrastructure. Transponders allow measurement of acceleration, temperature and weight so can obtain operational data through the Ahrma Supply Chain Big Data System.
The Ahrma pallet is lighter in weight compared to other types of pallets with the same functionality, says the company, which saves direct transportation energy costs.
The Total Cost of Ownership of Ahrma’s reusable pallet provides an alternative for costly one-way packaging products. The compressed wood inner structure is made of MDF, which is CARB2-compliant. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and PEFC have certified the inner structure components of the pallet. The Ahrma track-and-trace system provides for asset management that ensures optimal asset utilization, requiring fewer pallets in the supply chain system.
