Logistics And Consumer Industry Veteran Launches Plastic Pallet Pooling Business Targeting Pharmaceutical, Consumer Electronics, And Other Consumer Packaged Goods Suppliers
Intelligent Global Pooling Systems to Offer First Large-Scale Deployment of RFID-Tagged Plastic Shipping Pallets
Shippers seeking a lighter, more durable and easily tracked pallet now have a new option, with the launch today of plastic pooling business Intelligent Global Pooling Systems, or iGPS Company LLC, by industry veteran Bob Moore and an affiliate of private equity investor Pegasus Capital Advisors, L.P. ("Pegasus").
iGPS will be the only large-scale outside pallet supply service to provide radio frequency identification (RFID) in every pallet to track shipments in real time, which reduces the logistical cost of shipping and allows companies to verify food and drug safety as well as address homeland security. The Company, which will initially target consumer electronics and pharmaceutical suppliers, offers the ability to rent plastic pallets and avoid the ongoing expense of owning and maintaining wood pallets.
Plastic pallets are approximately 30 percent lighter than their wooden counterparts, which creates a tremendous potential savings in fuel costs. With one billion pallets in circulation in the U.S. currently, a replacement with plastic pallets would remove more than 28 billion pounds of non-value freight from America's shipping infrastructure.
Mr. Moore, who spent seven years as chief executive officer of wood pallet pool supplier CHEP International, Inc. ("CHEP"), will be chief executive officer of IGPS. When Mr. Moore left CHEP, it was a $2.5 billion global leader. The total annual global market for pallets is conservatively estimated at $14 billion by industry analysts. More than 600 million pallets enter the market each year as replacements, 97 percent of them made of wood.
"Plastic pallets are lighter, more durable, consistently sized and easier to tag with RFID than wood," Moore said. "The market has been waiting for a solution that has these characteristics -- and the environmental benefit of a 100-percent-recyclable product that does not consume trees.
"Pegasus' significant equity investment gives us the scale to capture that market opportunity," Moore further stated.
iGPS will be headquartered initially in Cos Cob, Connecticut, with operating units in Orlando, Florida, and Dallas, Texas.
For more information on iGPS, please contact Bob Moore at 407.342.8700 or BMoore@IGPS-USA.com.
About iGPS
Headquartered in Cos Cob, Connecticut, with operating units in Orlando, Florida, and Dallas, Texas, iGPS is the first company to provide all-plastic RFID-tagged pallet pooling. Launched in March 2006, the Company includes several pallet and shipping industry veterans, led by Bob Moore, CEO.
About Pegasus
Pegasus Capital Advisors, L.P. ("PCA"), has over a billion dollars in assets under management. PCA provides solution capital to middle market companies that operate in a variety of industries. PCA was founded in 1996 and has offices in Cos Cob, Connecticut, and New York City. For more information on PCA, please visit www.pegasusinvestors.com.