Pritchitts Dairies are cream of the crop

Palletcap keeps Pritchitts one step ahead in distribution.

When Montgomery Distribution, the distributors for Pritchitts Dairies, heard about a great new invention called Palletcap last year, they realised they might have finally found a solution to the problem of transporting vulnerable freight.

For Richard Bothwell, Palletway Manager at Montgomery, this discovery was of major importance.  “When it comes to handling fragile dairy produce – especially fresh milk cartons with a short shelf life – there’s no room for error,” he explains.  “By the time damaged cartons have been rejected and returned to sender, the product not only hasn’t been delivered on time but is no longer usable – meaning lots of waste.”

As soon as Montgomery Distribution introduced Palletcap, winner of a 2005 FLTA Award for Excellence, there was a dramatic reduction in the level of product damage.  “We simply fix Palletcaps to the top of any vulnerable freight,” explains Mr Bothwell.  “These highly visible, bright yellow cones have proved very effective in cutting down the amount of double stacking.”

In fact, Palletcap made the entire handling process for Pritchitts’ product transparent, eventually ensuring that double-stacking incidents dwindled to almost zero.  “Being made of cardboard and therefore crushable themselves,” says Mr Bothwell, “the cones became a very handy indicator of where any poor handling was still taking place – enabling us to establish a trail of damage and eradicate problems.”

The massive reduction in double stacking and damaged goods has sparked a chain reaction of benefits for Pritchitts.  “Complaints and claims are way down, which is excellent in itself,” says Mr Bothwell, “but that also means less administration, which again saves time and money.  In short, Palletcap is helping Pritchitts keep its customers happy – and satisfaction is very high all round.”  So high that Pritchitts’ customers now request the use of Palletcap on all traffic moving within Montgomery’s pallet network.

“We consistently see Palletcap creating win-win situations for distributors, suppliers and their customers,” comments Hayley Shirley, inventor of Palletcap and Managing Director of the Staffordshire-based Palletcap company.  “And win-win situations are always good for business.”