Your Supply Chain – A Necessary Evil or Critical Source of Competitive Advantage. Reusable Tr...

Winning the 2009 Queen's Award for Innovation was a pivotal moment in the development of Loadhog Ltd, an innovative creator of reusable transit packaging based in Sheffield UK.

For every one involved in the development and commercialisation of Loadhog’s “SmartStak” system and for our clients who have supported us in our brief but busy first five years, it is not the award, nor flash glass bowl (needing daily dusting) making everyone so proud but this award is tangible proof that revolutionary ideas, creativity and genuine innovation are very much alive within British manufacturing.

Simply by taking the time to understand and intelligently solve every day problems that exist in UK Industry, ideas can be taken from concept to full blown, successful, international business with a little hard work and ingenuity. It is this possibility that breeds the excitement and reason to build new businesses in the UK and to continue addressing the simple problems that so often just get brushed to one side, labelled as 'normal' or 'that’s what we have always done'. Loadhog is built on this enthusiasm and thrives on it.

Reusable Transit Packaging

The foundations for Loadhog as a business were laid down in 2004 with the development of the Loadhog Lid – a re-usable pallet Lid designed to allow instant securing of a loaded pallet with zero one-trip packaging. The Lid was created as a generic solution for many industries – speeding up operations by at least 1-2 minutes for every pallet secured, eliminating traditional securing material and equipment costs, eliminating waste and providing a level of security that allows even delicate products to be double stacked in transit and hence maximise vehicle fill. Despite significant successes with this product since launch nearly five years ago, the market for the Lid is being revitalised by on-going environmental legislation aimed at reducing plastic waste and also by corporate determination to seek efficiency in every area of the supply chain. What’s become clear is that so-called 'green solutions' like the Loadhog Lid are not just ideas for tree huggers or benevolent corporations but they are quite simply basic common sense and they are becoming ever more critical to business success in these times of economic hardship.

Since the original Lid, Loadhog has developed the Pally as a retail merchandising unit – a pallet and wheeled dolly in one integrated unit. Pally’s development was more specific than the Lid. With the concept born as a solution to Royal Mail’s complaint that 'dollies could not be braked sufficiently', the final product was only created in response to an IGD project to find a means of bridging the gap between suppliers' needs for a pallet on automated lines and retailers requirement for a mobile platform in store. Since inception, the Pally has been a real breakthrough when used with the ‘half-euro’ sized Loadhog Lid as a system in general industry, healthcare, food processing and more recently, the UK Mail/Postal Industry. The Pally and Lid system allows a far more user friendly, waste free method of handing and moving product. Using Pally means loads of 500kg can be transformed from a standard pallet to a fully mobile wheeled dolly unit instantly on demand with one foot press on a pedal at either end. This inherently eliminates the requirement for any pump trucks or forklifts within operations and loading bays and provides the opportunity for significant labour savings. Weighing only 21kg in total, the Pally System also allows more than 40 per cent increase in trailer fill when loaded and up to 60 per cent when empty with less dead-weight equipment using up fuel.

Lighter, easier to use, waste free and highly efficient… it ticks many boxes in a lot of industries and we hope this market will continue to grow as the Pally becomes a little more widely known since its launch last year.

SmartStak Delivering 30% of the UK Market for New Glass Beer/Wine Bottles

In addition, within approximately two years of launch, SmartStak now moves in excess of 30 per cent of the UK market for new glass beer/wine bottles and the product is taking off across the world. By introducing SmartStak to replace the old layer pad and wood top frame, our clients have eliminated virtually all pallet collapses for 'tall-pack' beer bottle pallets, increased trailer use by 10 per cent and eliminated 75 per cent of one trip packaging.

We realise that our innovations do not suit every supply chain or set of products. Indeed, replicability between operations of individual companies is often very limited. There are also many other firms like Loadhog out there, built on a commitment to create a better working environment through innovative product and service development, however, the reaction we are getting from the market clearly indicates that the supply chain is coming to the fore as a weapon in the quest for sustainability, efficiency and success – all it takes is recognition of this and a will to change.

Loadhog plans to launch a brand new product this year, aptly named the “HOGBOX System”. With our eight man team of permanent design engineers, we believe this is only the first chapter in Loadhog’s development and we have Her Majesty the Queen to thank for getting 2009 off to such a great start.

Please watch out for more ideas springing out of Sheffield and if you would like more information on any of the above, please call, email or come see us on the contact details below.