Since 1977, the CC Container has proven to be essential and invaluable in the horticultural supply chain across the whole of Europe. Almost 40 years ago Container Centralen (CC) developed the CC Container as an efficient, flexible, sustainable and reusable load carrier for the standardised transport of plants and flowers. During the last decade, CC has received feedback from the horticultural market that there is room for a better alternative to the current wooden shelf, the CC Wood.
CC is pleased to announce that things are about to change for the better. They are launching not one, but two new shelves for the CC Container, the CC Solid and the CC Air. Both of which are vast improvements on the current system. They will, in time, replace the CC Wood in the CC Pool.
New shelves for a new age
Times have changed and the requirements for the CC Container shelf have changed with it. The design of the CC Wood is not up to today?s standards in durability, sustainability and ergonomics and there are better solutions possible for transporting smaller and lighter loads.
An even bigger challenge is the influx of non-original, lower quality shelves in the CC Pool. Customers are confronted with a reduced performance and shorter lifespan of many of the shelves. This has resulted in increased costs and effort in sorting, transporting and replacing material. There is also a higher risk of revenue loss due to damaged products as a result of materials failing during transport.
The two new shelves will increase the added value of the CC Container and the CC Pool to the horticultural sector. These shelves will ensure that CC can continue to provide the customer with the quality and assurance they are used to, and offer them two durable and sustainable alternatives with much better performance, higher efficiency and the option to select a shelf best suited to their needs.
Both shelves have been carefully designed and tested. Customers and key stakeholders from the horticultural sector were involved with the design and CC has used all the market feedback received. Important criteria for developing the new shelves included competitive pricing in combination with improved performances in return transport, handling, sorting and storage, compared to the current CC Wood. They are universally usable on all current CC without any changes to the current setup except for the placement of the posts. It will not be possible to use wooden shelves with either the CC Air or the CC Solid on the same container.
CC Solid
The CC Solid is designed as an upgrade of the current CC Wood. It?s a full steel shelf and offers the following benefits compared to the CC Wood.
- 2.5 times increased stacking capacity per base in the return transport
- 20% weight reduction
- Better handling, easier sorting and stacking
- Increased durability
- Improved sustainability
CC Air
The CC Air is a quarter sized steel shelf specifically designed for handling plants on plant trays. The concept consists of two CC Airs, one mounted on each side of the container, that together form a lightweight solution for a more efficient transport of plants on plant trays.
It offers the following benefits over the CC Wood
- Five times increased stacking capacity per base in the return transport
- 50% weight reduction
- Increased durability
Improving the horticultural supply chain
Both shelves not only offer a better performance on product level, but they will contribute to a more efficient, flexible, and sustainable horticultural supply chain with lower costs.
- Total expected horticultural supply chain cost savings of ?20 million annually, as a result of more efficient transport, handling and storage
- Sustainable and durable. Both shelves are made from 100% recyclable steel with an approximate life expectancy of 20 year for the CC Solid and 10 year for the CC Air
- Reduced CO2 emissions throughout the supply chain, as the shelves last longer, take up less space and weigh less
- Improved traceability options with RFID, offering an improved insight into the supply chain movements and throughput times per shelf
Introduction of the new shelves
With more than 14 million shelves currently on contract in the CC Pool, replacing them is going to require a joint effort from everyone in the sector: customers, stakeholders, users, and CC. We are aiming to start the introduction of the new shelves around the second half of 2017.
All CC customers will be informed on the details and the timing of the introduction.
