Solution · Manufacturing & Distribution
Returnable Assets & Pallets
A returnable fleet you can actually account for, with the loss visible and attributable.
- Per customer
- Live holding and ageing
- Automatic
- Counted on and off the vehicle
- Measured
- Cycle time and true fleet need
Pallets, crates, bins, kegs and cylinders are bought as assets and then treated as consumables. They leave with a delivery and come back late, damaged, or not at all. Rugged RFID tags and gate readers turn that invisible leakage into a number per customer and per route — and a number is something a business can act on.
The problem today
What it looks like before
If two or three of these describe your operation, this solution is worth a conversation. If none of them do, it probably is not.
What we hear
Nobody knows how many returnable units the business owns, only how many it keeps replacing.
Assets held at customer sites are invisible, so there is no basis to ask for them back or charge for them.
Damage on return has no record of who had the unit, so the cost is always absorbed.
Cycle time is unknown, so the fleet is sized by guesswork and over-bought.
How it works
Step by step, on site
Not an architecture diagram — the actual sequence of what happens to a physical thing.
- 1
Tag the fleet
Rugged on-metal or moulded-in tags fitted to pallets, crates, bins, kegs and cylinders, rated for outdoor and washdown use.
- 2
Read at the gate
Fixed readers at plant and warehouse gates count units on and off vehicles automatically, without stopping the truck.
- 3
Assign to a holder
Units leaving are assigned to the delivery, customer, transporter or site, and stay on that balance until read back.
- 4
Audit in the field
A handheld audits a yard, a trailer or a customer site and reconciles it on the spot.
- 5
Charge and chase
Ageing reports, overdue alerts and demurrage or deposit charges generated from the same data.
Software used
What changes
Results and benefits
Figures come from real deployments. They depend on site conditions, which is why we commit to numbers for your site only after a trial.
- Per customer
- Live holding and ageing
- Automatic
- Counted on and off the vehicle
- Measured
- Cycle time and true fleet need
- Loss becomes attributable, which is when it starts to fall.
- Fleet size is set from measured cycle time rather than from fear.
- Deposits and demurrage can be charged because the holding data supports it.
- Damage is recorded against the holder at the time of return.
Example deployment
What one site looked like
Client names are withheld until we have written permission to publish them.
Beverage company, 46,000 crates
Moulded-in tags on crates with gate readers at two depots. Customer holding became visible per outlet for the first time, and ageing statements were sent monthly. Crate purchasing in the following year was based on measured cycle time rather than on an assumed loss rate.
Implementation & support
How the project actually runs
Including the parts that take the longest and the parts you have to own rather than us.
- 1
Fleet and tag selection
Tag type chosen for the material and the environment — moulded-in for new crates, on-metal or bolt-on for pallets and cylinders.
- 2
Tagging programme
Existing fleet tagged in batches as units pass through the depot, and new purchases specified with tags fitted at manufacture.
- 3
Gate readers
Readers at the highest-traffic gates first. Handhelds cover the rest, which keeps the hardware cost proportionate.
- 4
Customer balances
Customers, routes and transporters configured, with deposit and demurrage rules where the business intends to enforce them.
- 5
Commercial rollout
Ageing statements introduced to customers, which is a commercial change as much as a technical one and needs the sales team behind it.
Questions
Before you commit
Will the tags survive outdoor stacking and washing?
Yes, with the right tag. Moulded-in and rugged on-metal tags are rated for impact, UV, washing and years of handling. We trial them on your actual units first.
Do we need readers at every location?
No. Fixed readers earn their keep at high-traffic gates. Everywhere else, a handheld audit is cheaper and gives the same data.
Can we charge customers for overdue units?
The system gives you the holding and ageing data that makes that possible. Whether you charge is a commercial decision, and most clients start by simply sending statements.
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Read moreTalk to us about returnable assets & pallets
Send your site details and what you need to track. We come back with a specification, a hardware list and a read-rate trial plan — before you commit to anything.
Or call +91 97305 32888 — Monday to Saturday, 9:30 am to 6:30 pm.