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March 2009

After a successful 2008, and with an exciting year ahead, Loadhog, Sheffield’s innovative and award-winning company in the returnable packaging market, has appointed Ed Stubbs as its first general manager.

Since Ed’s appointment in January, he and the team have wasted no time in moving Loadhog forwards. Major deals have been secured for the supply of the Smartstak system on a pilot in Australia and 2000 Pally & Lid systems have been rolled out to a major UK customer and their client.

Ed’s promotion will see the UK national sales team with another experienced candidate with the drive and ambition to work with Loadhog’s sales manager, Edward Fanshawe to capitalize on the potential of new and existing products.

Ed Stubbs, who lives in Ranmoor, Sheffield, started his career in the United States with Gripple, Loadhog’s parent company, and has spent four years with Loadhog, managing the development and marketing of the Pally product.

Ed said: “It’s a real privilege to have the opportunity to lead Loadhog. We have an incredibly dedicated team here, we do things differently and are a bit ‘off the wall’ but I believe very effective at delivering truly innovative products with real benefits and value for our customers.  “We are adding tto the UK sales teamby bringing in a candidate with the experience to get the most out of our blue chip clients but also someone with significant drive passion and a hands-on approach to help us continue our growth in the reusable transit packaging market place”

June 2008

By utilising the revolutionary Loadhog Lid transit system, Dawson News, one the UK’s three largest wholesale and specialist news distributors, is not only saving significant time and money in moving product between sites nationwide before onward dispatch to customers, but also benefiting the environment by eliminating one-trip packaging waste.

Loadhog Lids, manufactured in Sheffield by the reusable and recyclable packaging innovator, Loadhog Limited, are designed to secure level loads to any pallet in seconds using only integral, retractable and tensionable straps.

Previously, Dawson News secured product to standard pallets using traditional banding or stretch wrap. The company has now removed the costs of the wasteful, single-use packaging and reduced labour requirements with 1200mm x 1000mm Loadhog Lids, which do the job more quickly and easily.

Other major advantages for the company in using Loadhog Lids are the time and labour saved in removing waste, the increased potential for trailer fill through double stacking and improved product stability and security, delivered by the lids’ tamper-proof ratchets.

Furthermore, without the need for knives, bins and wrapping machines, Dawson News’ distribution centres are now tidier and safer workplaces.

For all its deliveries, Dawson News currently utilises 900 Loadhog Lids, which are used time and time again. Trays and boxes are secured with two-strap lids, and newspapers and magazines with four-strap lids.

June 2008

Loadhog, the Sheffield-based returnable packaging innovator, has installed a £500,000 state-of-the-art layer pad wash plant in the city. One of only four in the UK and the second largest, the wash plant is the first not to use detergents and is available for use by other transit packaging companies.

The Italian-made plant is designed for the hygienic cleaning of plastic layer pads, used universally to transit pallet-stacked products, most particularly in the glass bottle industry. The 10,000 sq. ft. facility is housed in the 30,000 sq ft. building on Blast Lane which the company took possession of earlier this year.

The glass industry has stringent hygiene requirements and dictates that pads are cleaned after every trip. Loadhog’s wash plant conforms to the British Retail Consortium’s Global Standard for Food Packaging and employs the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) Protocol. All plant personnel are trained to control contamination and carry out microbiological testing, with no pads released until positive results are confirmed.

In addition to eliminating the need for traditional detergents, which are known to leave a residue on the pads’ surface, Loadhog has also invested in a separate reverse osmosis water treatment plant, which literally ’sucks’ the dirt off the pads.

Dave Arthur, the manager in charge of the wash plant, said: “This is an exciting and potentially highly profitable development for the company. Not only does the new facility enable us to make substantial savings but also to speed up the service for our largest customer, Quinn Glass, for whom we are currently washing 2.5 million pads annually The company utilises our award-winning and revolutionary Smartstak glass containment system of which layer pads form a part.

“With the capacity to clean seven million pads in a year, the plant also opens up a new income stream from other companies requiring a fast turn round pad cleaning service.”

For further information about the Loadhog wash plant please call Dave Arthur on 0114 273 1872

April 2008

Two Waitrose dedicated chilled meat suppliers are making fewer trailer movements and reducing transport costs after overseeing their adoption of the Loadhog self-securing pallet lid system.

Manufactured by the award-winning Sheffield-based company, the revolutionary and re-usable Loadhog plastic lids, which secure loads to pallets using retractable, tensionable straps, allow Dovecote Park and Dalehead Foods to double stack two fully loaded pallets on top of one another - up to 1.7m high - maximising trailer cubage and optimising chilling conditions during transit to Waitrose distribution centres.

Following a year-long study with Waitrose suppliers, the Loadhog system is now proving its ability to eliminate the use of stretch wrap when securing pallets at both suppliers. This increases savings in the supply chain by cutting out the material, waste disposal and equipment costs associated with stretch wrapping. In supplier operations, using Loadhog lids also cuts out the need to move pallets across busy despatch docks to wrapping machines or securing areas and frees up the space previously occupied by these machines and waste receptacles.

Loadhog is currently working with Waitrose suppliers, developing strong relationships and also introducing them also to the company’s revolutionary new pallet and dolly system, which operates as a single integrated unit for product movement.

March 2008

After adopting a revolutionary and unique solution which combines a pallet and a dolly, Dovecote Park, one of the UK’s leading suppliers and processors of British beef for Waitrose, finds it can move as much product as needed directly and easily line-side without the use of pump trucks.

The ingenious Pally has been developed by Loadhog, the Sheffield-based supply chain innovator, and trialled successfully to meet the requirements of one of the country’s largest grocery retailers. In pallet form it provides a fully stable, 800mm x 600mm base which, with a single pedal push at either end, is transformed into a mobile wheeled dolly unit for loads up to 500kg. Turned back to pallet form in the same way, the Pally is ideal for secure picking, stacking or transit.

Previously, Dovecote moved ordered product between butchering and packaging lines using individual tray sized units with a fixed wheel base. The Pally now gives the company the flexibility to move more product in a format which still fits between product lines and is easy for packaging operators to handle.

The stability of the Pally as a pallet also provides safe stacking and picking from the trays. The precision manoeuvrability of the Pally on demand as a dolly also makes the operation faster and more efficient without pump trucks or other lifting device - essential in busy operating environments.

Jim Nicholson, head of despatch at Dovecote, said: “The Pally has made a real difference to us. We can move as much product as we need without pump trucks and steer the Pally straight to the line. The Pally’s stability is ideal for picking and it copes within the frozen areas without issue.”

Dovecote Park’s adoption of the Pally follows the successful introduction of award-winning Loadhog Lids to secure and double stack full pallets of product for delivery using the lids’ integrated and retractable straps which replace stretch wrapping and banding to bring further labour and packaging cost savings. The Pally, which can be used in conjunction with the Loadhog Lid, is designed to nest with standard trays, is hygienic and stackable when empty.

February 2008

The Pally, launched by Loadhog, the Sheffield-based supply chain product innovator, introduces significant health and safety benefits to the workplace by integrating the essential features of a pallet and a dolly.

A single pedal push at either end of the patented Pally, which appears to be a standard half euro sized plastic pallet, engages four castors to the ground, transforming the unit into a mobile wheeled dolly for loads up to 500kg. By reducing supply chain handling and the need for onsite or inter-site lifting and handling equipment, such as pump trucks, valuable space is created in busy operating environments and substantial time and cost savings are delivered.

Turned back to pallet form in the same way, the Pally, which was developed and trialled successfully to meet one of the country’s largest grocery retailer’s requirements, provides a stable and manoeuvrable platform for moving goods quickly and efficiently between supply chain processes.

The Pally is compatible with supplier production lines, transport, storage, racking and mechanical handling equipment and, as a shelf-ready system, the Pally is a labour-saving means of moving and displaying goods in store.

The ingenious and revolutionary transport and merchandising solution, is also designed to nest with standard trays and is stackable when empty. It can be used in conjunction with the Loadhog Lid system - the award-winning ‘green’ method of securing loads to the Pally in transit and moving processes. The Loadhog Lids’ two integrated and retractable straps replace stretch wrapping and banding to bring not only further safety advantages by eliminating trailing bands and the use of knives, but also savings in labour and single-use packaging costs.

January/February 2008

Loadhog, the Sheffield-based supply chain product innovator, has launched the Pally - an ingenious and revolutionary transport and merchandising solution - which realises the dreams of retailers and suppliers alike by combining the essential features of both a pallet and a dolly.

In pallet form, the Pally - developed and trialled successfully to meet the requirements of one of the UK’s largest grocery retailers - provides a stable and immovable 800mm x 600mm base which, with a single pedal push at either end, is transformed into a moveable unit for loads up to 500kg.

Its seamless integration of stability and manoeuvrability makes the unique and patented Pally compatible with supplier production lines, transport, storage, racking and mechanical handling equipment. As a shelf-ready system, the Pally is a labour-saving means of moving and displaying goods in store.

The unique features of the Pally not only eliminate pallet instability and the need for additional lifting equipment, but also create valuable space in busy operating environments and deliver significant time and cost savings by reducing supply chain handling,

The Pally, which is also designed to nest with standard trays, is stackable when empty and can be used in conjunction with the Loadhog Lid system - the award-winning ‘green’ method of securing a load to the Pally. The Loadhog Lids’ two integrated and retractable straps replace stretch wrapping and banding to bring further savings in labour and single-use packaging costs.

While the Pally is designed to move through the supply chain as a direct, shelf-ready platform, many companies are finding it of significant benefit within their own operations.

Dovecote Park, one of the UK’s leading suppliers and processors of British beef for Waitrose, finds it can move as much product as needed directly and easily line-side without the use of pump trucks. The Pally now gives the company the flexibility to move more product in a format which still fits between product lines and is easy for packaging operators to handle.

Jim Nicholson, head of despatch at Dovecote, said: “The Pally has made a real difference to us. We can move as much product as we need without pump trucks and steer the Pally straight to the line. The Pally’s stability is ideal for picking and it copes within the frozen areas without issue.”