Care 4Depots enhances
working conditions in depots
Bart Smit, Field Operational Excellence Manager PRS
A bright idea to make work at depots safer and more efficient.
Maurizio Mondellini, Region & Sustainability Manager PRS: “With Care4Depots we offer our depots a solution between manual lifting and a fully automated line. For most depots, a fully automated line is a too big investment compared to the volumes they need to handle, but manual handling is no longer acceptable either - PRS pallets are too big and heavy for that. Our solution takes care of this and at the same time improves the pallet handling process in the depot.”
Positive feedback
Simplicity
“I visit every single PRS depot to get in touch with the workers themselves, to see and experience it. They are the ones who have to work with it. The medium line stays in a depot for about 6 weeks, the large line for 12 weeks. I install the lines, explain everything and give demonstrations. And I'm getting a lot of positive feedback. People in Italy have told me they don't have backaches anymore. We are really raising awareness among workers and managers that improving the line can really be simple, easy and cheap. When I was in Italy they told me: ‘We're keeping it! You can't take it away from us anymore!’”
“The roadshow will run until the summer of 2026. By then, I hope the idea will have really taken hold that our depots need to change - and that they can change without breaking the bank. And they can make their own choices. They can buy the system we've developed, or they can get another one. I'm always happy to give advice”, concludes Bart.
Bart: “During the road show we show our depot the simplicity of our solution - it can be placed anywhere and it's a simple system that still requires manual pushing and tracking, but no more manual lifting. We have two options - a medium line for up to 150,000 pallets and a large line for depots that receive more than 200,000 pallets.”
This is necessary because most of the depots PRS works with are still largely manual. For the depots we use, this is not just a suggestion - by 2027, every PRS depot partner will be contractually required to use an automated pallet lifting and sorting process. If they don't, we will no longer work with them.
Bart Smit, Field Operational Excellence Manager at PRS, explains what Care4Depots is: “We designed a new, flexible, low-tech, low-cost sorting and repair line which does not require manual pallet lifting. We then started visiting more than 30 depots across Europe to demonstrate this affordable sort and repair line. Through the road show, we hope to inspire depots to invest in our system or any other - as long as they implement a solution that improves working conditions.”
For depot workers, manually lifting and carrying pallets can be heavy work. That's why PRS launched Care4Depots in 2024. With this initiative, our PRS division wants to help depots to further enhance the working conditions of their employees - and at the same time improve the pallet handling process.
Sustainability Progress Report | 2024
Care 4Depots enhances
working conditions in depots
Bart Smit, Field Operational Excellence Manager PRS
A bright idea to make work at depots safer and more efficient.
Maurizio Mondellini, Region & Sustainability Manager PRS: “With Care4Depots we offer our depots a solution between manual lifting and a fully automated line. For most depots, a fully automated line is a too big investment compared to the volumes they need to handle, but manual handling is no longer acceptable either - PRS pallets are too big and heavy for that. Our solution takes care of this and at the same time improves the pallet handling process in the depot.”
“I visit every single PRS depot to get in touch with the workers themselves, to see and experience it. They are the ones who have to work with it. The medium line stays in a depot for about 6 weeks, the large line for 12 weeks. I install the lines, explain everything and give demonstrations. And I'm getting a lot of positive feedback. People in Italy have told me they don't have backaches anymore. We are really raising awareness among workers and managers that improving the line can really be simple, easy and cheap. When I was in Italy they told me: ‘We're keeping it! You can't take it away from us anymore!’”
“The roadshow will run until the summer of 2026. By then, I hope the idea will have really taken hold that our depots need to change - and that they can change without breaking the bank. And they can make their own choices. They can buy the system we've developed, or they can get another one. I'm always happy to give advice”, concludes Bart.
Positive feedback
Bart: “During the road show we show our depot the simplicity of our solution - it can be placed anywhere and it's a simple system that still requires manual pushing and tracking, but no more manual lifting. We have two options - a medium line for up to 150,000 pallets and a large line for depots that receive more than 200,000 pallets.”
Simplicity
This is necessary because most of the depots PRS works with are still largely manual. For the depots we use, this is not just a suggestion - by 2027, every PRS depot partner will be contractually required to use an automated pallet lifting and sorting process. If they don't, we will no longer work with them.
Bart Smit, Field Operational Excellence Manager at PRS, explains what Care4Depots is: “We designed a new, flexible, low-tech, low-cost sorting and repair line which does not require manual pallet lifting. We then started visiting more than 30 depots across Europe to demonstrate this affordable sort and repair line. Through the road show, we hope to inspire depots to invest in our system or any other - as long as they implement a solution that improves working conditions.”
For depot workers, manually lifting and carrying pallets can be heavy work. That's why PRS launched Care4Depots in 2024. With this initiative, our PRS division wants to help depots to further enhance the working conditions of their employees - and at the same time improve the pallet handling process.
Sustainability Progress Report | 2024