iGPS offers businesses the ability to rent the exact number of pallets they need, rather than having to stock for peak seasons and keeping idle pallets in storage. Companies can easily upgrade to iGPS's system and avoid the expense of purchasing and maintaining a pallet inventory.


Renting Versus Owning
By renting plastic pallets from iGPS's shared pool, businesses can focus their capital expenditures and day-to-day supply-chain operations on their core business and eliminate the expensive distraction of owning and maintaining an inventory of pallets. Importantly, companies that have been using wood pallets – which are difficult to RFID-tag and trace – can readily upgrade to iGPS's system and begin tracking shipments in real time.


How Pallet Pooling Works
Under a pooled system, manufacturers, distributors and retailers rent – rather than own – their pallets; the pallets are owned by iGPS. The pooled pallet system works as follows:
The manufacturer notifies iGPS of a required shipment.
iGPS issues ready-for-use plastic pallets to the manufacturing facility in truckload quantities.
The manufacturer palletizes their product onto the platform and ships it down the distributor network.
Distributors receive the pallets and either store the products in warehouses or use the pallets to move products to the retailer.
Once the pallets have been emptied at a retail outlet, the distributor relocates the pallets to their distribution centers.
Pallets are accumulated at the distribution center and the distributor returns the pallets to iGPS.
iGPS inspects the pallets and prepares the pallets for reissue.

THE FACTS ARE CLEAR: iGPS plastic pallets conserve our natural resources, reduce waste, promote hygiene and result in lower fuel and transport costs.

U.S. in 1995.(2) This equals 1.4% of total waste and 19.6%
of total wood waste land-filled at msw facilities.(2)
Because iGPS pallets are 100% recyclable, their useful
life is indefinite. Unlike wood pallets, “disposal” is
not an issue.
FACT:
Wood’s porosity presents a risk
of bacterial and insect infestation
Because of wood’s porosity, pallets made of raw, untreated
wood are not compliant with the IPPC. To be compliant
wood must, at additional cost, be subjected to heat
treatment or chemical fumigation.(4)
iGPS plastic pallets are inherently immune to infestation
and therefore do not require costly heat or chemical
fumigation. In addition, they do not absorb moisture
or degrade in a wet environment.
FACT:
Wood pallets add unnecessary
weight to the supply chain, resulting
in greater fuel use and added cost
At approximately 75 lbs. each, wood pallets are 50%
heavier than iGPS plastic pallets. This added weight
translates into higher fuel and transport costs.
At less than 50 pounds, iGPS plastic pallets are 30%
lighter than their wood counterparts, which translates
to savings on fuel and transportation.
Replacing all wood pallets with plastic pallets would
remove 9.25 billion pounds of non-value-added weight
from the nation’s supply chain.(3)
FACT:
The common practice of painting wood
pallets consumes millions of gallons of
paint and is harmful to the environment
and the workplace
Paints contain volatile organic compounds (VOC’s), such
as benzene, toluene, naphthalene, and formaldehyde,
which are a major contributor to ozone, an air pollutant.
VOC’s can also cause adverse short-term health effects
such as headache, nausea, dizziness, and eye, throat,
and lung irritation.(5)
iGPS plastic pallets are never painted. Instead, they
are simply power-washed before returning to the pool
and supply chain.
WOOD PLASTIC

A Statement from General Mills
In December 2008, General Mills began a pilot at its Roanoke, TX distribution facility testing the viability and impact of iGPS plastic pallets in its network and with customers. Based on the positive results of that pilot, General Mills is now expanding the iGPS offering to other locations within its production and distribution network. Beginning in June, GM will transition more of its retail dry temperature sites to the iGPS pallet platform. GM will also pilot iGPS pallets in the refrigerated channel in June.