Message from Management

After fi fty years of experience in the fi eld of timber processing and trade, it felt appropriate to produce an additional means of communication in order to present our company, “Karipidis Pallets”, and also to highlight important industry issues.

The wooden pallet, displaying a great variety of applications, has evolved considerably over the years mainly through the cooperation between manufacturers and end-customers. In this connection, along with a fi rst introduction of our services and operations, this binder includes additional background information, which is necessary to support the product we offer.

Over the previous decade our company has achieved signifi cant economic growth, which has been rendered possible mainly through the recognition of one critical need: this for on-going, constant development, pointing to further expertize advances and also targeting increased levels of managerial and administrative effi ciency.

Having already met a number of objectives, such as the complete upgrade of our infrastructures, the maximization of our production capacity and the unhindered access to necessary raw material resources, Karipidis Pallets safeguards the delivery of top-notch products exported and secures the prospect of its high-end services rendered.

Theodore Karipidis, Managing Director

Company Profi le

Continuing the family’s fi fty year involvement in timber processing, Theodore and Irene Karipidis founded “Karipidis Pallets” in 2001 in Naousa, Greece. The company is engaged in the production and supply of wooden pallets and related packaging material, all having a wide range of application and use. After twelve years of operation and signifi cant business growth, the company is currently ranked as the sectoral market leader in Greece.

Infrastructures

Karipidis Pallets operates a complex plant for pallet manufacture and timber processing, located in Eirinoupoli-Naousa, in the Imathia prefecture of Central Macedonia, Greece.

The facility lies on a 44,000 m2 site and includes 6,000 m2 of building infrastructures where four modern pallet production lines are hosted consisting of fully automated units (Italian made, Delta & Storti). Maximum capacity amounts to 2,000,000 standard pallets per annum. Additional equipment includes two dryers and extra expert sawmill units.

Distribution of exported products is implemented through the company’s privately owned fl eet of ten in total heavy-load transport trucks and trailers. Deliveries take place as scheduled, just-in-time, on a 24/7 basis, 365 days per year, Furthermore, a broad network of afi liates services any incurred need as per international shipments and related distribution.

Notably, it has to be stressed that Karipidis Pallets has already completed a tree year investment plan (2009-2012); in this connection, capital expenditures reached a total of 6,000,000 €, resulting to a full upgrade of its facility and means of productions.

Used PalletsRecycled, inspected and serviced items, consisting mainly of Europallets (EURO-pallet/EPAL), which after thorough testing and associated repair work comprise the existing pool of used pallets maintained at our facilities.

Sawn TimberPertaining to wooden beams, cut to specifi c custom sizes (length, width, type of section etc), made of either softwood or hardwood, which can be heat treated after sawing.

FirewoodTimber classed either as hardwood or softwood, harvested exclusively from renewable resources, chopped in regular sizes, gathered, stacked and used for fuel.

PelletsWooden Pellets are types of wood fuel, generally made from compacted sawdust. Pellets are extremely dense and can be produced with a low humidity content (below 10%) that allows them to be burned with very high combustion effi ciency of about 5 kWh per kg. It has to be mentioned that 1kg of pellets is roughly the equivalent to 0.47 lt of diesel. Regular geometry and small size allow easy feeding, compact storage and rational transport cost over long distance. Karipidis Pallets offers pellets of Austrian, Czech or Montenegrin origin.

BriquettesWooden Briquettes are made of dry untreated wood chips processed under high pressure without using any binder. Sharing the same general specifi cation with wooden pellets, only varrying in size (briquettes are larger), their main advantage is that the regular domestic stoves and fi replaces may be fueled and there is no need for special infrastructures.

Products

Our product-range includes more than 250 codes for wooden pallets and related packaging material, many of which are tailored-designed and custom-built to order after consulting with our clients as per their special logistic needs. In addition, a wide range of sawn timber beams are offered, which according to specifi c specifi cations is forwarded to a variety of end uses. Furthermore, Karipidis Pallets is in position to supply able volume of biomass bio-fuel pellets and briquettes, servicing demand in this kind of renewable energy resources.

New PalletsNew wooden pallets produced at our facilities, either single or multiple-use, open or closed, two-way or four-way, reversible or not, optionally with extending platform or tailor-made in accordance with our clients’ set of specifi cations. In retrospect, one can fi nd a truly wide range of pallets, their dimensions varying from small (eg 700×920 cm) or larger (eg 2160×7350 cm).

Composite Structures - BoxesSimilar to the production of wooden pallets, we offer on demand a variety of structures and complex packaging media, such as specialized types of boxes, crates, soles and other kinds of commonly used logistic material.

Our Clients

Karipidis Pallets is the Greek market leader in pallet production, covering a large part of domestic demand. Our clientele includes well established fi rms, such as: ELVAL SA, SYMETAL SA, TOSOH SA, ELFE SA, DEL MONTE SA, COCA COLA SA, HALCOR SA, HELLENIC PETROLEUM SA, CYCLON HELLAS SA, SILGAN METAL PACKAGING SA, ARDASH METAL PACKAGING SA, CROWN HELLAS SA, ELASTRON SA, SYSTEMS SUNLIGHT SA, JUMBO SA, DIAGEO HELLAS SA, MEVGAL SA and many others. The company’s substantial increase in market share over the past few years has been achieved primarily due to management’s commitment in offering tailor-made products and also by securing supply contracts and logging concessions in regard of raw material availability (logs and sawn timber).

Tailor Made Concept

Modern concepts for operating the current logistic centres throughout the world highlight the importance of increased functionality in selecting the appropriate types of packaging means to eliminate lay time and increase response effi ciency. Wooden pallets, being universally used for storage and transport, have over the years undergone a series of design improvements so as to bring in a further improving fi t for logistic facilities. Nonetheless, it is remarkable how much time and money can actually be saved through the application of smart packaging means, designed to match each case’s idiosyncrasies.

Recognizing the importance of custom built pallets, we remain available to end users by offering valuable advisory services that lead to specifi c primary designs of specialized products. In perspective, a specialized design department was established within the fi rm in 2003. Moreover, in terms of raw material availability, management secured access to resources of ultra-long timber beams, necessary for the production of large pallet items.

As a result, we have assisted numerous clients as per selecting the ideal match for their operations, while indeed in several cases our joined efforts led to the creation of brand new types of pallets.

Our design department operations promote and require extensive interaction with each client and bring out fi nished products that comply with the stringent, highest set of standards. Each pallet is designed by special “PDS” software and as a process it often consists of the following stages:

Data InputWhere the desired specifi cations and all key parameters are being inserted in the program. At this point, a detailed description of the product takes place: eg selection of pallet type, dimensions, type of wood, nails etc, and a three-dimensional, virtual model is being reproduced.

Simulation Each pallet design is a dynamic model of fi ve variables: weight ratios, stiffness, durability, functionality and cost. In collaboration with our clients, depending on each case’s requirements, a series of alternative solutions are being offered by the simulator. Conclusions drawn include detailed information on the future product, ranging from mechanical strength calculation to life span estimates according to set conditions of use.

Prototype Manufacture & TestingThe fi nal phase before offi cially introducing a new design is the construction of a prototype according to the theoretical model previously rendered and selected. The prototype is being examined in a wide range of tests, to name a few: (a) static compression and bending tests (to estimate stiffness, strength and safe working loads) and (b) dynamic tests (to estimate life span, physical durability and functionality for specifi c handling and shipping environments).

Raw Material Availability

Karipidis Pallets’ demand for sawn timber beams totals to 35,000 m3 annually, which stresses the upmost importance of gaining open access to resources of raw material; in this context, the company has entered into exclusive partnerships with leading suppliers in Central Europe. Furthermore, one of management’s key concerns and objectives has been to integrate a vertical model for operations and thus in 2007 the company acquired two former state-owned sawmills in Montenegro. Future prospect lies in further business expansion by establishing a biofuel pellet manufacture facility, to exploit the existing volume of concentrated by-product sawdust of over 180,000 m3 in size.

Standards & Compliance

In 2002, the “Commission on Phytosanitary Products” (CPM) of the “Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations” (FAO) introduced the ISPM15 international standard to eliminate the spread and effects of pathogenic parasites in wooden packaging material and transportation. Pallets manufactured in compliance with the ISPM15 standard bear a unique stamp to mark each one’s registered and authorized producer. For Greece, the commissioned certifi cation and awarding body is the “Ministry of Rural Development and Food” and in 2005 Karipidis Pallets joined the registry of approved FAO/ISPM15 producers; the company has thus been assigned the mark GR-0009 for unique item identifi cation worldwide.

History of the Wooden Pallet

Small mobile platforms for loading at the ports of the 19th century, widely known as skids, are the ancestors of today’s pallets. Initially, lifting required empty spacing within the stacks and boards where used to increase protection and durability. With the introduction of cranes in 1887, rods were placed at the bottom of each platform, which gradually decreased signifi cantly in size. In 1909, along with the invention of the forklift, the fi rst ever pallet was created. Lifting and moving capacity in two and fi nally in 1919 in three axes gave the pallet its current form, offering multiple inputs and reversibility. However, it goes without saying that while the pallet has more than a century of life, its dominant role in worldwide transport relays to only the last fi fty years.

In 1931, research commissioned by the American Railways showed that unloading a wagon full of 13,000 cans packed in bundles took as much as 3 days. According to the same survey, the use of pallets accelerated the process to just 4 hours. In addition, a pallet’s fl at surface, acting itself as a platform, enabled the positioning of loads in multiple vertical planes. As a result, increasing storage height had the effect of reducing the total area necessary.

While many accounts of the pallet industry point to World War II as the era when it began, the foundation for pallets and palletized material handling had been set prior to the war. Because of abundant labour, lack of suitable warehouses and a shortage of capital to invest in the latest technology, pallets remained in infancy. With World War II and the US involvement, the emerging trend of palletisation was viewed as an important advantage in the War effort and it truly became a force into the world of logistic services.

With the advent of peace, factories and warehouses had already been adapted to the new methods of material handling. Nowadays, over one billion pallets are being produced globally while in the US alone the estimated circulation amounts to two billion, including used and recycled items, which after careful planning and the necessary standardization form pools for re-distribution, just as in our facility in Naousa.

Without a doubt, for the second half of the 20th century until today, it is true indeed that...

“pallets move our world”

Environmental Consciousness

By the early 90s the international community focused its efforts to establish the necessary standards on forest management, setting the rules for sustainable development, a key issue for the forestry sector. In 1995, the United Nations imposed a series of measures, introducing the much needed regulatory framework and the adopted policies within the industry. As an outcome, in only a twelve years’ time, 292 million hectares have been certifi ed and offi cially approved for further logging worldwide, 30% of which lie in Europe. These concessions are often referred to as “legal forests”. This kind of certifi cation has rendered a solid framework, which in turn supports additional measures to eliminate uncontrolled logging. Next step of course is to characterize any “uncontrolled” logging as “illegal”, literally. Up to date, all legal harvests and related timber volumes logged point to the issuance of interim contracts and certifi cates of origin, known as Chain of Custody Certifi cates (CoC).

Karipidis Pallets, committed to operate in the most effi cient and environmentally responsible way, uses exclusively raw material from legal forests in the production of wooden pallets.

In any case, strange though it may seem at fi rst glance, the application of wooden pallets is currently the most eco-friendly way for material handling. Here are six basic reasons how this is an absolute fact:

1. The use of timber from “legal forests”, instead of decreasing the overall size of the forest, quite the contrary, it boosts fl ora to further grow; this is why during the past decade European forests grew by 30%.

2. Wooden pallets are repairable and thus their life span can be prolonged for many years.

3. Wooden pallet production involves operating low disturbance, light industrial facilities.

4. Sawmill by-products consist mainly of sawdust, splints and wooden chips, which are ideal for the production of non-fossil fuels and renewable energy (eg bio-fuel wooden pellets and briquettes).

5. Unlike metal, plastic or other synthetic materials, wooden feedstock is friendly to the environment and if rejected it is easily decomposed.

6. According to a survey by the European Union (European Commission’s DG Enterprise 2003): a cubic timber of timber, as substitute material, reduces the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere by 800 kg.