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Italy: 65,700 counterfeit Euro pallets seized in northern Italy |  |
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On 19th June 2016 in Mezzani (Parma), working in close co-operation with EPAL’s Italian National Committee, Conlegno-Consorzio, and the independent inspection company, Bureau Veritas, the Guardia di Finanza dealt a huge blow to the illegal use of the trademark ‘EPAL in oval’ and the commercial counterfeiting of EPAL Euro pallets. 65,700 counterfeit Euro pallets, including many EPAL Euro pallets as well as EPAL blocks and nails, were seized by the Guardia di Finanza in a yard in Mezzani. The Guardia di Finanza expressly stated that counterfeit EPAL Euro pallets do not meet phytosanitary and hygiene regulations and what’s more, pose a high safety risk. Legal proceedings have been initiated by the public prosecutor's office in Parma against the owner of the yard and producer of counterfeit pallets on the grounds of counterfeiting EPAL Euro pallets, receiving of stolen property and commercial fraud. |
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Polish National Committees’ 3rd Pallet Conference / ECR Forum 2016 | |
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Logistics experts and 125 licensees accepted the Polish National Committee’s invitation to the third annual Pallet Conference on 12 and 13 April 2016 in Józefów, not far from Warsaw. The first day of the conference is traditionally used for exchanges and networking, while the focus of the second event-day was on the topics of EPAL Euro pallets users and pallet management. This included the German brewery, Karlsberg, presenting their successful logistics concept to trade professionals at the Pallet Conference. On the 9th and 10th June 2016, the 6th ECR Forum 2016 took place in Warsaw, at which the Polish National Committee introduced themselves to industry visitors with their own stand. The motto of this year’s forum was ‘intelligent co-operation’.
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1st Pallet Symposium in Vilnius, Lithuania | |
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The Baltic States National Committee’s 1st Pallet Symposium took place on 19th April in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius. More than 70 licensees, users and potential users from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Belarus accepted the invitation to the 1st EPAL Pallet Symposium. They were treated to a first-class programme with international logistics experts presented in the historic Belmontas water mill in Vilnius. Outside the presentations, there was a vigorous exchange on all topics around EPAL pallets and their use, and ready to answer questions were the EPAL CEO, Martin Leibrandt and his team from the General Secretariat. Also present were the President of the Baltic States National Committee, Rimas Montvilas, and his CEO, Janas Likšo. |
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2nd Czech Pallet Symposium in Prague on Supply Chain Day |
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On Supply Chain Day, the EPAL Czech and Slovak National Committee organised the 2nd EPAL Pallet Symposium at the Courtyard Marriott Hotel in Prague. The focus of the Symposium were the topics of the environment and sustainability. Other matters included the relationship between independent inspections and high quality, new products and the fight against EPAL pallet counterfeiters. Martin Mašek, President of the Czech and Slovak National Committee welcomed the logistics experts, presenting the aims and activities of the EPAL National Committee and the successes achieved, which can clearly be seen in the steadily increasing production of EPAL pallets. The National Committee was supported on Supply Chain Day by Martin Leibrandt, EPAL CEO, and Thomas Beenen, Senior General Manager, EPAL. Visitors gave the Czech and Slovak National Committee’s stand top marks – it was built completely from EPAL pallets. Equipped with EPAL pallet tables and chairs, the stand was a favourite meeting point at the event.
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EPAL and Supply Chain Day | |
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Every year on Supply Chain Day hundreds of logistics companies from all over Europe offer a glimpse into the world of logistics. Companies from industry and commerce, as well as many logistics service providers open their doors for one day only, and for the last two years on Supply Chain Day, the EPAL Academy has offered events at their premises, tailor-made especially for school children and students. In Hungary, an art event utilising pallets was organised by Eva Johnson, EPAL representative, in cooperation with the Logistics Department at the Veszprém University. University students painted EPAL Euro pallets at open-air event and the three best ‘artworks’ were awarded a prize. The next Supply Chain Day takes place on 27 April 2017.
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3rd Pallet Symposium in Budapest and WPO’s International Packaging Conference | |
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EPAL was invited to the third EPAL Pallet Symposium in Hungary on the 25th May 2016. The industry event for logistics experts took place at the Danubius Hotel Gellért in Budapest. Since the first Hungarian Pallet Symposium in 2014, the event has been the foremost industry get-together. Logistics experts, EPAL pallet producers and repairers and the major users of EPAL pallets from retail and industry come together to discuss current retail logistics issues as well as the challenges faced by the largest open exchange pool worldwide. The expert speakers gave a detailed insight into the quality requirements of the supply chain and of the largest open pallet exchange pool worldwide. Innovative solutions in pallet management (Robotnik) and infringement of trademark rights for EPAL pallets and their prosecution were also presented and discussed. A particular highlight of this year’s event was the presentation by extreme mountain climber, Reinhold Messner. His relationship with nature, his resilience and high level of professionalism, and his sustainability mantra mirror EPAL’s values perfectly. Reinhold Messner ranks as one of the most famous mountaineers and explorers in the world, who on his spectacular expeditions up all the 8,000-metre peaks and through ice and sandy deserts, accomplished outstanding feats of logistics. At the same time as the 3rd EPAL Pallet Symposium, the WPO meeting 2016, organised by the World Packaging Organisation took place. At the WPO’s International Packaging Conference on 26th May in Budapest, EPAL was a Platinum sponsor.
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The upward trend of EPAL pallets continues: excellent result in Q1 2016 | |
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After the excellent annual result in 2015 with an increase of 10.9% and in total over 100m EPAL pallets, 73.6m of which were newly produced EPAL Euro pallets, the upward trend is continuing in the first quarter of 2016: In Q1/2016 18.3m EPAL Euro pallets were produced worldwide: an increase of 5.1% compared to the previous-year period. Repairs figures also increased slightly on the previous year with 6.1m EPAL pallets repaired. Martin Leibrandt, CEO of the European Pallet Association e.V. (EPAL): “This excellent result for the first quarter of 2016 shows the high efficiency of the EPAL Euro pallet in logistics and the high acceptance rate of the EPAL system, the largest open exchange pool worldwide. In addition to this, is the outstanding work of the National Committees, our success in fighting against EPAL-pallet counterfeiting and support for users through effective tools such as the PalletCheck Express App, the quality classification and the EPAL Academy. All of this together makes the EPAL Euro pallet so successful and sustainable.” |
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EPAL Academy’s PalletCheck Express App nominated as innovation 2016 for several awards | |
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The PalletCheck Express App has been on the market since September 2015 and streamlines the exchange processes of EPAL Euro pallet users. The App doesn’t just capture the exact pallet quantity in a stack by photo, including time and place of the exchange transaction, it also generates an exchange document which immediately after the exchange transaction can be sent by email as a PDF document. What’s more, since the latest update, the App is equipped with a signature function, which is important for both exchange partners. In April this year the App was nominated by the German trade journal LOGISTRA for the ‘LOGISTRA best practice: Innovation 2016’ award in the ‘AutoID’ category. The PalletCheck Express App is also in the running for the Swiss Logistics Award 2016 from GS1 Switzerland. The most recent nomination is for the Digital Economy Award DEA.2016 from Initiative Deutschland Digital, for which PalletCheck Express App is nominated in the ‘Customer Experience’ category. The app is available in the respective stores for both Android and Apple iOS and can be installed for free.
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New: EPAL product datasheets | |
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EPAL now offers detailed downloadable product datasheets for the whole product portfolio on their website. |
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Euro pallets transformed the roof of a Berlin shopping centre into a bar and an ‘EPAL Lounge’ turned a fire brigade festival into a party zone | |
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The highlight of the fire brigade festival in Hof am Leithaberge south of Vienna this year, was the ‘EPAL Lounge’. From more than 400 EPAL Euro pallets, a party area complete with DJ booth and dancefloor was built. The party location is reminiscent of the commercial vehicle exhibition held in September 2015, at which over 6,500 new EPAL pallets were installed and the EPAL Lounge came into being for the first time for exhibition attendees. Two years ago, used Euro pallets transformed the roof of a Berlin shopping centre into a trendy bar. Ecological, practical, vintage. If you would like to visit the ‘Klunkerkranich’ bar on your next Berlin trip: Karl-Marx-Straße 66, 12043 Berlin, Germany |
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Announcements: | |
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Düsseldorf / Segovia, 1st July 2016 On 1st July 2016 in the Spanish town of Segovia, the General Assembly of the European Pallet Association e.V (EPAL) unanimously elected Robert Holliger President of EPAL for a further three years. Furthermore, the following countries are currently represented on the EPAL board: the Baltic countries (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia), France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Switzerland, Spain as well as the United Kingdom and Ireland. EPAL’s successful work and the continuing expansion of the largest open pallet pool will continue with the re-election of Robert Holliger. |
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Logistics & Distribution FachPack 2016 67th FEFPEB Congress SpeedCHAIN ALL4PACK |
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European Pallet Association e.V. |
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