Proving that innovation does not have to be overshadowed by complexity, a Staffordshire entrepreneur has come up with a 51p solution to a problem which costs the transport industry millions a year.reprinted from the Birmingham Post, 5 May 2004
Proving that innovation does not have to be overshadowed by complexity, a Staffordshire entrepreneur has come up with a 51p solution to a problem which costs the transport industry millions a year.
While working as a business development manager in over-night pallet distribution, mother-of-two Hayley Shirley noticed how much time and money was wasted when pallets were wrongly stacked on top of fragile items, damaging them.
Believing there had to be a simple solution she designed and developed the "Palletcap", a bright yellow cardboard warning cone which is fixed to the top of a fragile consignment.
She hopes the simple step should ensure drivers are aware they cannot stack anything on top of it. "It is easy to see why problems occur," she said. "When large volumes of pallets are being moved by forklift, it is not always possible to identify fragile goods by label alone."
"The need for speedy deliveries and space constraints both in the warehouse and on the vehicles means there is a temptation to stack items which shouldn't be stacked."
Although only a small percentage of goods is damaged in this way, it is estimated the cost to the industry exceeds £10 million in insurance claims alone, with a further £2.5 million lost through administration costs. Then there is the cost damaged goods cause the business - perhaps leading to the loss of a customer or damage to reputation.
Mrs. Shirley said the signs so far are that the industry is very keen on her diminutive device and eager to look at new ways of preventing losses. Orders have already started to roll in.
"We've had some big orders from all over the UK, and have received some really positive feedback," she said. "Our orders have been from the general haulage, pallet network and warehousing sectors. Most encouraging for me is that we are getting repeat orders." Mrs. Shirley came up with the idea while working for MTH, a Lichfield-based haulage company which specialises in overnight palletised freight distribution. Part of her job was to deal with insurance claims from customers.
It was a frustrating experience.
"It was a real bugbear," she said. "We all understand accidents happen but for a consignment to be written-off simply because something had been stacked on top of it during transportation just seemed a pointless waste of everyone's time and effort." But she admits that initially she didn't envisage setting up her own company. She credits Paul Fishwick, a business adviser she met through Business Link, with giving her the confidence and self-belief she need to pursue the the idea.
He had seen her in action at a seminar earlier in her career and was immediately impressed by her ability to think on her feet.
"When I first met her I could see she had this impressive capacity to absorb and use information," he said. "She certainly has the ability to succeed in business at a high level and I was keen to encourage her to see that."
A prototype was initially created in rubberised plastic but remodeled in reinforced cardboard so that it would be more environmentally-friendly, easily and stored flat-packed and wouldn't need to be recovered at the end of its journey.
Mrs. Shirley now hopes to expand her presence in the huge potential market for Palletcap.
There are about 44 million pallet movements per year in the UK and this is growing at around three to four percent annually. She hopes her invention could eventually become a recognised symbol worldwide within the industry.
"If all freight operators adopted it then everyone would understand what it meant and the system really would be effective."
By Martin Faint