The advantages of renting your plastic crates from us at PPS are in abundance as the more durable, reliant plastic will deliver a far better service than cardboard ever could. Through renting you are ensuring that the crates are reused on a regular basis therefore stemming the flow of production and ensure you play your part in reducing the carbon footprint.

We will ensure that the crates are collected from your point of destination before they are returned to our site for inspection and cleaning so they can be used in the same process all over again. Crate rental is a great way to ensure that you do not overspend on crate purchase, therefore reducing the number of crates that get lost in transportation costing your business more money.

The awareness in the environment has increased the number of customers who use us for their crate rental on either long or short terms contracts as we guarantee to supply a system that is suitable to your needs.

So, if you want to reduce your carbon footprint by renting your environmentally friendly plastic crates via our crate rental service at PPS equipment then we are the service for you. Please feel free to get in touch with us for any more information through our online contact form.

Over the past decade, increased efficiency has been at the forefront of our businesses development. During this time we have sought to create a solution that would deal with two main issues. Firstly, the environmental harm that using timber and cardboard pallets and crates can cause and secondly, the space that these items take up when they are empty.

New to our selection of products is a range of reusable plastic pallets. These are an excellent solution for both of these problems and are suitable for use in many different industries, from catering and food transportation, through to retail.

The main benefit of choosing plastic pallets over timber or any other material is that they can be re-used time and time again. This is of particular importance in the food industry, as timber crates can become unclean and damaged reasonably quickly. The plastic pallets can also cut down on the number of vehicles on the road at any one time

Details about the environmental benefits of plastic pallets can be found on the website. Businesses that would like to find out how transferring to reusable plastic pallets could be an advantage for their business or those that want to enquire about crate hire, can speak to a member of our team by filling out our online contact form.

Fortunately PPS Equipment Management, a company based in Measham in the Midlands, offers many companies much more than just crate rental. The PPS “full service option” includes crate rental, online asset management and crate washing to ensure they are a one stop solution to crate rental needs.

So, any companies, particularly in the food sector who are considering crate rental would be well advised to contact PPS to discuss the pros and cons of crate rental. PPS has a large fleet of plastic crates used for crate rental to companies throughout the UK. They will discuss your individual requirements and then make a proposal to you based on a number of parameters connected to the crate rental. PPS can offer short- medium- or long-term contracts; seasonal peaks or demand spikes can also be accommodated.

Employing a professional operator like PPS for your crate rental demands allows you to concentrate on your core business, and PPS to concentrate on theirs. By entering a crate rental agreement with PPS you are in effect removing one layer of bureaucracy from your own operation, freeing up employee time for other duties.
As a food company you don’t make any profit on crates, but you can certainly make a loss on them! So like most things in life leave crate rental to the professionals.

A number of years ago PPS set out a programme that involved renting plastic pallets on a cross-industry basis. It became clear early on however, that whilst there was then (and continues today) a move from traditional timber pallets towards plastic pallets, particularly within the food sector, the large volumes would come from crate rental.

Early success in plastic pallet rental lead to enquiries from customers who also wished to rent plastic crates from the company. A large poultry producer with multiple sites offered PPS their first long-term crate rental contract (a contract that runs to this day). So, it was at this time that PPS embarked upon their successful route towards becoming one of the UK’s specialist crate rental suppliers.

The management of PPS realised that crate hire was only one part of the service package they wished to offer clients. Crate hire in itself is relatively simple – it’s the management of the crates and other rented equipment that offers the greater challenges. And by “equipment management” we mean not only the crate rental and pallet rental but the retrieval of this equipment from third parties at remote locations.
Understanding that plastic crates, plastic trays, plastic pallets and also pallet boxes were the working assets of their business, PPS worked with a leading software developer to produce an online asset tracking system which they called “Enable”.

The Enable system allows despatch departments to record outward deliveries and also to place forward orders for equipment with the principal – i.e. PPS. In short a client can place orders for crate rental and pallet rental on the system on a 24 hour basis. Critically of course it allows PPS to track all its returnable transit equipment – invaluable as all such equipment is returned to the key PPS locations for cleaning and sterilising before being re-introduced into the crate rental pool.

Any major manufacturer or supplier considering crate rental will firstly consider buying a stock of crates they deem sufficient for outward deliveries. Well,  sending them out is the easy part, retrieving used crates from clients often proves somewhat more problematic! Plastic food crates have an almost infinite number of uses – apart from that for which they were purchased, and as such are a very tempting candidate for becoming conveniently “lost”. With some plastic crates costing around £5 or more, “losses” can quickly mount up.

Manufacturers (or food processing companies in this case) will of course advise their customers that these crates are to be returned. However if they do stray for whatever reason, how far do you go in pursuing the client who has mysteriously “lost” your property, bearing in mind that he is after all a client whom you hope will continue to trade with you.

It is at this point that crate rental becomes a more attractive alternative to the processors. By leaving the provision and supply of crates to a third party who specialise in crate rental, pallet rental and overall returnable transit equipment management, the processor in effect passes responsibility for these to someone like PPS.

Another issue to factor in is the necessary capital expenditure required to purchase a large fleet of plastic crates and plastic pallets. In these difficult financial times, getting the required capex, even for larger companies is by no means a certainty. Crate rental removes this necessity as PPS contracts to supply an agreed number of plastic crates and pallets as part of the overall full service option. It is therefore the responsibility of PPS to ensure sufficient volumes of crates are within their crate rental system to supply each customer’s weekly needs.

PPS like to remind potential customers that crate rental is the PPS core business and they specialise in not only offering a seamless crate rental service, but it takes away any responsibility from the food processing company of any involvement in the retrieval of crates, pallets or pallet boxes. It is often with a sense of relief that the responsibility for the management of returnable transit equipment is passed on to PPS. No more arguments with customers about “lost” crates or pallets and who pays for them!

Director of PPS Iain McArthur adds “What we aim for is that our customers no longer worry about or even think about their plastic crate and plastic pallet requirements. We take over that responsibility, allowing our clients to concentrate on their core business. We emphasise that we’re in the crate rental business, they’re not. By taking on the role of providing the equipment, the crate rental, the washing and sterilising of used crates and pallets we in effect remove a headache from the supply chain which was in the past experienced by our customers. And when it comes to retrieving “lost” equipment we act as the honest broker simply trying to get our assets back. There’s therefore less likelihood of any unpleasantness between our clients and their customers on this issue.

We started off with crate rental and plastic pallet rental, but have over time extended that to pallet box rental, metal roll cage rental and we have recently added a roll cage repair and refurbishment and on-site repair services for plastic pallet boxes.”

PPS Equipment Management Ltd has its main site at Measham in the Midlands, but will also have a sister site in Grimsby established during the first quarter of 2010. Both sites will have state-of-the-art industrial wash facilities accredited to ISO 22000:2005.

PPS Direct which is part of PPS Equipment Management Ltd has recently found some unexpected success in the burgeoning UK wine industry.

The company has expanded its direct sales arm and now promotes not only new returnable transit equipment including crate rental, but also a range of fast-moving second hand goods such as metal roll cages, plastic pallet boxes and plastic crates.

The nature of second hand equipment such as roll cages and pallet boxes means that it is generally very fast moving and once it’s gone it’s gone! The main part of the PPS operation concerns long-term contracts, which, once in place tend to run with little need for day-to-day input. However the PPS team has adapted very well to the fast-moving pace required to be successful in this type of trading.

Furthermore a number of new customers have come on board – some may be a single sale, but other new customers continue to return to PPS.

A wine growing concern in Cornwall contacted PPS Direct recently and subsequently purchased a number of second hand plastic pallet boxes for use in general field use, and of course the collection and storage of the grapes.

PPS Direct is also gearing up for an expected surge in retail business in the run-in to Christmas with their crate rental, roll cages and plastic pallets.

The company has been offering plastic crate rental for a number of years; however an important facet of their business model is what they refer to as the “total management option”. This involves renting clients plastic crates, managing them via the company’s own Enable online asset tracking system, arranging the retrieval of the equipment from third parties, washing or sterilising it at their industrial wash site, before returning the crates to the equipment pool, ready for re-use.

The food sector has been and continues to be a major area of importance to experts for crate rental. But why would anyone, let alone some of professional companies’ blue chip customers rent crates rather than simply buy them outright? Quite simply the answer is Management. Management of equipment that is – the use of plastic crates as a returnable transit carrier continues to replace one-way trip cardboard packaging. The traditional mindset with packing is that you have paid for the packaging, along with the goods it carries or protects. So, cardboard boxes are either disposed of, or used by the receiver to store goods or perhaps for secondary deliveries.

Obviously however, returnable packaging must be returned for further re-use otherwise the medium is not cost-effective. This is where PPS come in with their crate rental services and, as they take responsibility for the retrieval of the equipment it means there is no opportunity for potential conflict between supplier and customer in the event of lost or damaged equipment.

If you transport or store goods, it may be that returnable and reusable equipment is a must for your operations. And if yes is your Accounts Department ready to sign off on the necessary capital expenditure needed?

If capex is unavailable, you may wish to speak to a Midlands-based specialist in RTE, already providing equipment such as food crates, pallets, wire mesh containers and roll cages across a broad range of industries.

Not only will they supply your equipment – on short- medium- or long-term contracts, they will  use their own proprietary online asset tracking software system to allow them to retrieve the equipment from your customers, they will bring it back to their Midlands depot and wash or sterilize it prior to returning it to the pool.

PPS specialise in crate hire, crate rental, roll cages and storage boxes

This wash contract was chosen for a number of reasons:

•    Professional wash standards – washing to ISO 22000
•    Ability to deep clean the boxes which may have varying degrees of soiling.
•    Flexible working times allowing Wilkinsons to book in loads at differing times of the day.
•    Proximity to Wilkinsons distribution operations.

As well as the attached lid boxes, the wash contractor can wash nestable crates, collapsible boxes and plastic pallets.

PPS specialise in crate hire, crate rental, roll cages and storage boxes

PPS has a large fleet of plastic food crates and plastic pallets used by clients in an integrated loop system. The company rents out this returnable transit equipment, retrieves it from third parties in the marketplace and returns these goods to its Midlands base where state-of-the-art washing lines clean and sterilize returned equipment.

What products can PPS wash? Plastic nestable crates, collapsible boxes, attached lid boxes and plastic pallets are all washed to exacting standards. After washing, all equipment is shrink-wrapped and made ready for collection. A bar coding system allows PPS to track all washed equipment.

Does PPS only wash its own equipment? No, they offer wash facilities to clients on an ad hoc basis, or term contracts, to cater for seasonal spikes in client’s production or just when a client needs a single “one-off” wash.

Can PPS wash equipment irrespective of what has been carried in the equipment? No – because much of the washing carried out by PPS is in the food sectors, they must be very careful of what comes onto their site in case of possible contamination. For example they recently turned down the opportunity to wash crates for a well-known health food company as some of the test boxes sent in contained slivers of broken glass.

PPS specialise in these main areas, crate rental, crate hire, roll cages and storage boxes.