EIPS Minutes, July 20, 2000

Attendees:

John Clarke (VTU) Ron Johnson (Intel) Bob Sanders (IBM) Kevin Howard (HP) Jim Favaron (Cookson Plastics) Kevin Connolly (Cookson Plastics) Linda Mickle (Cookson Plastics)

Minutes / Notes (not necessarily in sequence of the discussion):

Cookson Plastic Pallet Discussion:

-- Most rackable plastic pallets targeted to the food / grocery industry (inert construction)

-- Cookson website shows wide variety of offerings. Click here to explore: http://www.cooksonmhd.com

-- Comment: Their light duty Structocell (just 27 lbs.) may be a good one to try for one-way applications (Brazil, etc.).

-- Reuse Programs: CHEP is trialing plastic pallets (plastic is only about 1-2% of their total supply now, 1/2million out of 43million).

-- Lease Programs: Partnered with Citicorp these are largely customized to the needs of the customer. Break-even with wood is typical.

-- "Duro-Pal" can take reinforcements to increase rackability. It can also can be made uni-directional or full perimeter.

-- Dynamic load rating means in transit and beam racking. Static load capacity means floor storage/stacking. Edge rackable is separate.

-- Load capacity typically done with air bags or sand bags. The latter is more realistic and severe. Both are more severe than carton loading.

-- Currently most plastic pallets are HDPE but PP is also being looked at.

-- Fire safety is a real concern in the US but not many other places. Increased pallet weight (more plastic) does not necessarily mean higher risk.

-- Some fire codes do set limits on total amount of plastic in a given area which would include product and packaging.

-- Automotive industry has used plastics for along time and they have the facilities setup accordingly.

-- Cookson's "Advant-Edge" pallet has been rated as equivalent to wood.

-- Each facility has to be rated on its own respective to its construction and the nature of goods stored inside.

-- It may be necessary in some cases to store excess pallets outside or on the other side of a barrier of some type

-- Cookson has facilities in MN, GA, NY, and UK. No known partnerships in Asia at this time but they do ship product there.

Asian Pallet Pool / Preferred Designs:

-- Asians most commonly using custom pallet configurations to ensure no wasted space, no real regard for standardization

-- Japan resistant to using standard pallets (HP's experience). Customers didn't want HP to use 1100x1100 size there.

-- Evidently 1100x1100mm is acceptable for ocean containers since 45" widths (1140mm) has been used in this way also

-- Japan using "tier racks" commonly.

-- Japan marketplace is very unique, all things packaged differently for them than for other countries

Next Steps:

-- John Clarke will finish up the draft spec with regard to the performance requirements for 1way and reusable pallets in both 1200x1000 and 1200x800 configurations.

-- All others should continue to canvass for potential partners for a trial program which could include upstream suppliers or downstream business partners. It appears that upstream suppliers may be easier to start with. Successes there may eventually give us the momentum to expand downstream.

-- Next meeting. August 17, 2000, 11am eastern time. Agenda will primarily consist of reviewing the draft performance spec and then forwarding onward to potential suppliers and other users. Let me know if you know of another guest that may be of interest to the group.