Aldi has rolled out Chep’s new generation reusable plastic crate in its Queensland and New South Wales stores with hopes of substantial supply chain cost savings
Chep has used the launch of its new generation reusable plastic crate (RPC) with supermarket Aldi to highlight gains in transport usability.
The Brambles subsidiary has taken the design from sister firm IFCO Systems, dubbed Gen 3, and rolled it out with Aldi in their Queensland and New South Wales stores during October.
Chep underlines the “reverse logistics” value of its low folded height of 25mm, which means more can be loaded for return to the company once used.
“The Gen 3 crate’s reduced fold-down height improves space utilisation and reverse logistics by up to 29 per cent, thus contributing to improved overall supply chain cost savings,” the company says.
The company says this means “fewer trucks will be required to transport an equivalent number of crates when empty”.
The Gen 3 crate can be cross and column stacked — where crates are either stacked on a pallet in a crisscross pattern or directly on top of each other in a column — on pallets for “improved transport stability”.
The company also spruiked its crate service, saying it will provide assistance in tracking and controlling equipment.
Explaining its attraction to the supermarket, Aldi Queensland Managing Director Viktor Jakupec says “The new crate allows products to be packed directly on farm before being delivered to our warehouses and subsequently to stores, which reduces the amount of repacking and speeds up the process.
“The crate design allows it to fit directly into our new fresh produce display on the shop floor, which means less product handling and therefore a higher level of product quality. Instead of store staff having to pack products on tables within the produce area, the majority of products will remain displayed within the crates which will assist with better product rotation and minimise damage to the products through less handling.”