Coca-Cola HBC

Background

CCHBC operated an exchange system with their customers on a one-in-one-out basis. However, it’s nearly impossible to operate this to a total success and where exchanges weren’t recovered, the pallets were left on the customer balance. This resulted in the business carrying significant discrepancies which had a knock-on financial impact to their spend. The main problem was the majority of the balance had aged significantly. CCHBC required urgent assistance to resolve the problem and to avoid future issues.

EMS were engaged as pallet rental experts to assess the situation and make recommendations to find a sustainable solution. Usually, companies rely on the pooler to tell them what works and what doesn’t. With CCHBC, EMS were able to advise what would work best for them as a business and as a result a range of solutions have been implemented that means the complexity of managing a pool the size of which CCHBC require has been simplified by using a dedicated expert partner.

Bespoke Account Health Check:

• EMS’s forensic account analysis showed a significant overspend in rental charges
• EMS worked closely with the pooling provider and agreed the de-hiring of all historical balances off the account
• It was recommended to change the model from exchange to Trade Collect
• CCHBC engaged EMS as their pallet management partner

Result: No additional cost incurred

Outsourced Pallet Account Management:

• On weekly basis, EMS receive system reports which are uploaded into the EMS system and analysed before being converted into the agreed format and uploaded to pooler portal
• EMS manages all elements of the pooler relationship (communication, meetings, audits and daily pallet activity with the Island of Ireland)
• CCHBC have been able to reallocate resources internally, throughout their management structure
• 20% reduction in overall pallet spend, as promised as part of the health check report outcomes

Result: Time to collaborate on savings projects

Horizontal Integration:

• EMS have supported CCHBC on other projects including pallet transport and rented gas tanks
• This horizontal integration provides further support to the CCHBC team and allows them to focus on their core role whilst utilising EMS’s transferable consultancy skills

Result: Time to collaborate on savings projects

Customer Testimonial

“EMS are undoubtedly one of our most valued supply chain partners. We can fully rely on them to provide outstanding services across pallet management but also on other related projects too.” – Lyndsay Cunningham – Country Logistics Manager