Established in 1992, LPR has quickly grown to become one of the major pallet-pooling operators for the FMCG manufacturing sector. With subsidiaries throughout Europe, 72 depots and a pool of more than 10 million pallets, LPR is currently the second largest pallet pooling company in Europe.
Having worked in partnership with LPR since 2003, Norbert Dentressangle is responsible for the delivery of pallets to LPR's UK customers which include, amongst others, Kelloggs, Kimberly-Clark and Weetabix. Norbert Dentressangle is also responsible for the collection of pallets from the FMCG and food service sectors and for the maintenance of LPR's 1.5 million strong UK pallet pool. This includes the inspection, reconditioning and repair of damaged pallets.
In support of the contract, Norbert Dentressangle operates seven dedicated pallet sorting and repair facilities throughout the UK and is seeking to invest an additional £500,000 in a new site in Warrington.
The company processes in excess of 140,000 pallets each week, of which approximately 16,000 require repairs. In line with LPR and Norbert Dentressangle's shared commitment to environmental best practice, waste wood from the pallet repair operation is recycled into biomass for use as fuel and in manufacturing.
Also in line with this commitment, the operation is served by Norbert Dentressangle's shared-user, high cube transport network, which provides optimised, national distribution solutions for manufacturers of bulky yet light product. In this way LPR is able to use the additional 20% capacity inherent in the high cube fleet to effect higher pallet volumes per trailer, thereby reducing the number of vehicles required to execute the deliveries and collections .
The operation also exploits synergies which exist in relation to a number of shared Norbert Dentressangle and LPR customers, allowing the delivery of finished goods and the collection of pallets to be combined in a highly efficient closed transportation loop.
LPR's Managing Director, Jane Gorick said: "We are delighted to extend our relationship with Norbert Dentressangle. Culturally, they share our customer service ethics and, being in the industry, they understand the benefits of a quality pallet. Alongside this, one of LPR's strengths is our flexibility to meet customer specific needs, and when it comes to delivering 'operational solutions', we've always found the Norbert Dentressangle team able to step up to the challenge."
Going forward, Norbert Dentressangle and LPR will explore the potential to develop the relationship into mainland Europe.