CHEP
| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Equipment Pooling |
| Founded | 1958 |
| Headquarters | Sydney, Australia (Global headquarters) |
| Products | Pallets, Returnable Plastic Containers, IBCs, Automotive Containers, Chemical Catalyst Containers |
Number of employees | 7,700+[1] |
| Parent | Brambles |
| Website | www.chep.com |
CHEP (Commonwealth Handling Equipment Pool) is an international company dealing in pallet and container pooling services, serving customers in a range of industrial and retail supply chains. CHEP is owned by Brambles Limited.
CHEP offers wooden and plastic pallets, small display pallets, crates and IBC containers. These products can generally be recognized by their blue color and CHEP logo.
History
CHEP evolved from the Allied Materials Handling Standing Committee (AMHSC), an organisation developed by the Australian government to provide efficient handling of defence supplies during World War II. When the war ended in 1945, the Americans returned home, leaving behind millions of blue pallets at their military bases in Australia. With this asset base and established infrastructure, the Australian Government continued to endorse the organization after the war to support the national economy. In 1949, a new government under the Liberal Party of Australia decided to privatise the industry and mandated the sale of the Commonwealth Handling Equipment Pool organisation.[2]
Brambles Limited, a company created in 1875 by Walter Edwin Bramble and well experienced in the materials handling industry, purchased CHEP on April 24, 1958. After the 2008 Brambles acquisition of LeanLogistics, the company implemented SaaS technology to optimize the pallet supply chain.[3] Brambles is a company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.
CHEP has operations in 45 countries, employs approximately 7,500 people and has a pool of approximately 300 million blue US navy pallets and containers.
Controversy
In 2014, ABC Radio National reported CHEP's dominance of pallet hire and supply had become a challenge to "pallet recyclers in America, where approximately twelve to fifteen percent of all lumber produced is used in its own pallet manufacturing."[4][5]
References
- ↑ Careers chep.com. Accessed 2008-03-12.
- ↑ History www.chep.com Accessed 2008-03-12.
- ↑ Brindley, Chaille (1 May 2012). "CHEP and IFCO Systems Integration: Brambles Unveils Growth and Business Strategy Plans at Investors Conference". Pallet Enterprise. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
- ↑ "The great wooden pallet wars". Radio National. Australia: ABC. 13 May 2014. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
- ↑ Hodes, Jacob. "Whitewood under Siege". Brooklyn, NY: Cabinet Magazine. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
External links
- The Blue Pallet, a 2014 radio show by NPR's Planet Money about CHEP and their blue pallets.