The Customer: Leading Supplier of Poultry, Pet, and Animal Nutrition Products
The Challenge: Transforming Pallet Management Across a National Network
The Story:
PLA implemented a comprehensive pallet management program for a leading supplier of poultry, pet, and animal nutrition products, delivering cost savings, centralized data, and network-wide efficiencies across three core divisions.
- Reduced average pallet costs by $2.74 per pallet over two years
- Consolidated supplier base while leveraging incumbent relationships
- Saved $2.9M in hard costs during the first 24 months
- Centralized data for improved forecasting and reporting
PLA's partnership with this national supplier began over a decade ago through emergency pallet supply support. From there, Propak—now part of PLA—became a reliable vendor for their poultry facilities across Northwest Arkansas, Missouri, and Kansas. What started as a pallet supply relationship steadily evolved into a trusted, solutions-based partnership.
Over the years, the company faced growing challenges across its expanding network. Multiple pallet types, inconsistent quality, and fragmented supply channels created inefficiencies across operations. When the company formed its Animal Nutrition division to complement its Poultry and Pet Food arms, the complexity only deepened. That’s when PLA proposed a unified, fully managed pallet program.
PLA worked closely with leadership, visiting every facility to understand on-the-ground operations and unique challenges. This groundwork led to the design of a cost-plus pallet management model, built on transparency, flexibility, and trust.
In its first year, PLA reduced the company’s average pallet cost by 12.35% per pallet, outperforming savings projections. In year two, costs dropped another 13.54% per pallet. Total hard-cost savings exceeded 25% in just 24 months.
One of the most valuable outcomes of PLA's program has been the standardization of data. The company’s growth through acquisition had created silos, with each site operating on differentsystems. PLA now provides:
- Monthly savings and cost avoidance reports
- Quarterly and annual performance reviews
- Comprehensive analytics on pallet types, usage, and spend
PLA continues to collaborate on broader logistics initiatives, including bids for over-the-road transportation services and exploration into procurement process management. This partnership is a model of supply chain transformation through transparency, operational alignment, and long-term collaboration.
