Member - Ponera Group

We have developed a modular pallet system which by their assembly, can provide different sizes of pallets in terms of surface area. This is specifically important due to the high cost of non-standard size pallets. The design focuses on meeting the standard requirements in regards to shipping capacity, and also a very secure and safe connection system for nesting the pallets. The size of Ponera pallets are designed considering the different stages of shipping process in order to maximize the shipping efficiency by increasing the amount of transferred goods in standard containers. Furthermore, the material used for our pallets are considered to be recyclable bio-polymers that offers higher sustainability. Using such material, ensures the possibility of reusing the pallets several times (Estimated lifetime more than 10 years) compared to customized size wood pallets that are generally used only once, creating big resource waste. Nowadays, mainly wooden pallets are used for the shipping of goods. Even though there are defined conventional pallets such as European or American pallets, a large part of this market includes customized size goods for example in the case of the transportation of the industrial equipment or furniture. The problem regarding the customized size pallets is that such pallets are much more expensive compared to conventional pallets. This is mainly due to the production cost of such pallets as they are not produced in large quantities. Second problem is that these pallets are usually used once in their life-cycle as they are scrapped at the end of the transportation, which offers a very low sustainability, both economic and environmental. The conventional pallets on the other hand, have the problem that they are not optimized towards highest shipping efficiency, such as maximizing the utilized surface area of standard dry transportation containers. Such pallets were standardized in a period from 1940s to 60s, and they are mainly optimized towards lower required loading time or simply to fit the doors of residential buildings. The solution that we offer, is designed to address the above-mentioned challenges. Furthermore, the concept of modularity in our pallet system enables us to provide IoT solutions by practically equipping them with traceability solutions, and creates the preconditions for an efficient circular economy with a 1 solution fits all model. The design and concept of the Ponera solution is an enabler for the Physical Internet initiatives, by guaranteeing a solution which allows flexible goods encapsulation. Thanks to this characteristic, combining the flexibility (usage and size) with traceability solutions, we are in the perfect position to tackle additional markets such as conventional sized goods transport (due to our increased container space usage), and increase our future offerings into digital solutions to effectively manage the module flow. So far we have developed the designs and selection of the material for the product. The design has passed the simulation tests to meet the requirements of the markets we want to address. The first prototype is being produced and we have arranged a testing of the pilot in the first quarter of 2021 with a company in Switzerland, and are targeting 3-4 pilots in total ranging in different industries and for different uses. We have filed two patent application in European Patent Office in January 2019.