Tianchen Shelving Explains "The Significant Importance of Accelerating the Circular Sharing of Standardized Pallets"

Accelerating the circular sharing of standardized pallets is of significant importance for enhancing the level of logistics standardization, reducing logistics costs, and improving logistics efficiency.

In China, the predominant use of pallets is for internal circulation within enterprises, with a common practice of loading goods onto vehicles while keeping the pallets within the factory premises. Although this method involves repeated pallet transfers during goods transit, consuming labor and risking product damage, there has been no better alternative. The use of low-cost, disposable pallets can address the issue to some extent but leads to significant resource wastage. As a result, disposable pallets are primarily used in international and long-distance transportation and are difficult to widely promote. In this context, addressing the recycling and reuse of pallets requires a socialized organizational approach. Many developed countries have established pallet pooling systems, enabling the widespread circulation of pallets across society and significantly improving the efficiency of supply chain logistics.

### 1. Logistics Equipment Standards Related to Pallet Pooling Systems

Currently, numerous logistics equipment standards are involved in pallet pooling systems, including pallet standards, logistics vehicle standards, and warehouse shelving standards. Additionally, to ensure the smooth implementation of pallet pooling systems among upstream and downstream enterprises in the supply chain, it is essential to establish unified standards and standardized processes across all nodes of the supply chain. These include product standards, transport tools, handling equipment, and storage facilities, such as pallet dimensions, quality acceptance criteria, operational guidelines for pallet pooling, service standards, vehicle standards, forklift standards, and shelving specifications. With the rapid development of the logistics industry and its increasing impact on the national economy, the urgency of logistics standardization has become more pronounced.

Existing national and industry standards related to the pallet industry include: "Main Dimensions and Tolerances for General Flat Pallets for Intermodal Transport," "Performance Requirements and Test Selection for General Flat Pallets for Intermodal Transport," "General Flat Pallets for Intermodal Transport, Wooden Flat Pallets," "Test Methods for General Flat Pallets for Intermodal Transport," and "Pallet Coding and Barcode Representation," among others. However, these standards do not address the management of pallet pooling. To fill this gap, the National Standards Committee and the Ministry of Commerce have approved and are developing a series of standards and industry regulations related to pallet pooling, including: "Operation Specifications for Pallet Pooling Systems," "Identification Systems for Pallet Pooling Systems," "Quality of Plastic Flat Pallets for Pooling Systems," "Dimensions and Loads of Palletized Unit Loads for Pooling Systems," "Requirements for Pallet Pooling Systems," "Handling Equipment Requirements for Pallet Pooling Systems," "Vehicle Requirements for Pallet Pooling Systems," "Warehouse Facility Requirements for Pallet Pooling Systems," "Management Specifications for Pallet Pooling Systems," "Maintenance Management Specifications for Pallet Pooling Systems," "Application Specifications for Electronic Tags in Pallet Pooling Systems," and "Information Management Specifications for Pallet Pooling Systems."

### 2. The Value of Pallet Pooling System Models and Standardization

In recent years, many international companies and domestic enterprises have ventured into China's pallet pooling service market, such as Loscam, CHEP, and Quanya, each with its own advantages and characteristics.

Taking Loscam as an example, the company has over 70 years of experience in the logistics packaging equipment leasing industry. Headquartered in Hong Kong, its operations are divided into three regions: Greater China, Southeast Asia, and Australia. By the end of 2014, Loscam had become the largest pallet pooling service provider in Greater China, serving manufacturers, distributors, logistics providers, and retailers across the supply chain. The company advocates for the development of goods transportation with pallets through the shared leasing and management of logistics packaging equipment, aiming to enhance customers' logistics efficiency and reduce the complexity of equipment management.