Foodpro 2023 was the ideal opportunity for plastic pallet specialist Ozkor to unveil its latest equipment to bring plastic pallets into price parity with wooden ones. National marketing manager for Ozkor, Alan Morgan, writes.
When it comes to industry challenges, high on the list that a plastic pallet manufacturer could aspire to would be the design and development of an alternative option that matches the price of a standard Australian wooden pallet.
This might seem like a tall order, but, as one of Australia’s leading plastic pallet suppliers, Ozkor has done just that.
Australian industry has been waiting a long time for a plastic pallet at a price comparable with wood, which was only exacerbated when Covid supply chain crises caused major shortages.
Foodpro provided the perfect opportunity for us to announce our latest investment in a newly manufactured plastics injection moulding tool that will make plastic pallets viable for more businesses.
Now that Ozkor is manufacturing the new LWR-1165 model in Australia, it will enable the company to eliminate shipping costs and provide much quicker delivery lead times.
Traditionally plastic pallets have been much higher in price than a wooden alternative, but our market research identified many companies were using much heavier wooden pallets than they needed and renting them even though they continually remain in the customer’s warehouse.
Our research also found that many companies were looking for a lower cost option than continuously paying rent, year after year, for pallets that were not required. To avoid the imposition of renting wooden pallets, businesses have increasingly been looking at investing in purchasing their own.
LWR-1165 gives companies a realistic, practical alternative that not only provides a quick return on investment but a reduction in reliance on rented pallets. Furthermore, the prices open an opportunity to use the new pallet as a one-way distribution pallet without the need to really on wooden pallets.
LWR-1165 can handle up to 1000kgs in selective beam racking and because it is much lighter than wooden pallets, it will reduce transportation costs for end users. It also means rather than wait for a forklift or pallet jack, one person can simply pick up an empty pallet by hand to relocate it.
Ozkor was delighted with the response it received at foodpro and the potential its latest equipment brings to supporting Australian businesses.
This article first appeared in the August-September edition of Food & Drink Business magazine.
