Now there is a better alternative that automates the task of tracking pooled pallets from multiple vendors in a single software solution.

Manchester UK and Adelaide, Australia.

2ic Software is helping bring pallet management efficiencies to even more European companies with the sale of its 2ic Pallets solution to Halewood International and F.A. Gill.

Halewood International, a respected beverage supplier known for such brands as Red Square and Sambrini, had increasingly found itself with pallet management challenges in the face of its rapidly growing product lines.

"Within the market sector that Halewood International exists, an inherently large volume of transactional data is produced which had to be manually input into other applications, creating extra processes and time inefficiencies," explained David Unsworth, Distribution & Planning Manager for the firm. "This left our business open to manual input errors such as duplication of transfers and missed data entries."

2ic has provided a solution more to the taste of the spirits supplier´s palette. "2ic has the ability to quickly interface data from our WMS system and convert that into a predefined format without any manual keying of transactions," Mr. Unsworth noted. 2ic provides fully supported solutions for pallet processing in line with market standards which produce consistent results and provide all reporting needs, he added.

2ic Software efficiently transitioned Halewood International´s old pallet control processes without incident. "Inconsistencies and agonising time wasted on pallet control and data entry are now things of the past," Mr.Unsworth stated. "2ic offers a professional service with support and understanding of the importance of cost saving processes within the pallet pooling environment."

For F.A. Gill, 2ic Pallets provided a solution not only for managing its CHEP pallet use, but also for keeping track of other reusable pallets and containers.

"We wanted to have a good system for tracking our pallet and trays use with CHEP and also be able to track our own white pallets and packaging," said David Smith, Distribution & Transport Manager at F.A. Gill. "We like the way 2ic Pallets generates reports for all or just one of our customers. Plus the way it checks the electronic invoice we receive from CHEP helps you find any mistakes a lot faster."

"These are two more examples of how 2ic Pallets can help bring efficiencies to pallet managment," stated Andrew Whittam, CEO of 2ic Software. "2ic has a multitude of features and can act as middleware for reporting data to pallet pooling providers. It effectively eliminates duplications and ommisions, audits pallet rental invoices, and provides an entire range of management reports."

Peter Clarke, 2ic Software sales manager for the UK and Ireland, added that 2ic Pallets is also the perfect tool to manage other reusable transport packaging (RTP) such as white pallets and trays.

"We wish we had this software ages ago it would have made tracking pallets and trays a lot easier," Mr. Smith concluded.