Now they can prove it on 120 millions pallets.
CHEP manages pallet pooling operations at industrial scale across multiple service centers. In that environment, moisture control is not a quality preference but a logistical and operational requirement. A pallet that absorbs excess moisture during storage or transport can lose structural strength, gain unnecessary weight, corrode fasteners, and in some sectors even compromise the goods it carries.
At CHEP volumes, manual spot-checking is operationally meaningless. Thousands of pallets move through the line every shift. Every pallet needs to be verified without interrupting throughput.
Brookhuis developed a system that allowed us to measure every pallet automatically at production speed. That fundamentally changed the level of control we have over pallet quality across our service centers.
The Situation
CHEP faced a structural measurement problem. Pallets leaving the service center within specification could still absorb moisture during handling, storage, or transport. For customers in food, pharma, and consumer goods, uncontrolled pallet moisture creates operational risk that extends beyond the pallet itself.
Existing measurement methods were insufficient. Manual inspections and spot measurements could not provide the throughput, consistency, or traceability required at CHEP scale. The production environment demanded a fully automated inline solution capable of measuring every pallet without slowing the conveyor process.
At the time, no standard market solution existed that could reliably measure both the top and bottom deck of pallets simultaneously at line speed.
The Solution
Brookhuis engineered a dedicated inline moisture measurement station specifically for CHEP’s pallet pooling operations.
The system was built around multiple FMI inline sensors, configured to the exact geometry of CHEP pallets. As pallets move through the conveyor line, both decks are measured simultaneously without physical contact, operator intervention, or production delay.
Measurement decisions happen automatically at line speed. Pallets exceeding the defined moisture threshold are immediately flagged and diverted for drying. Pallets within specification continue directly to dispatch.
All measurement data feeds into the Brookhuis cloud platform, giving CHEP operations managers centralized visibility across service center locations. The system is configured according to CHEP’s own pooling specifications and reporting requirements, creating a consistent measurement standard across the network.
Results
CHEP can now document moisture compliance on every single pallet leaving the service center.
That level of control has direct operational value for customers in food, pharmaceutical, and consumer goods industries, where pallet condition directly influences product integrity and logistics quality.
The implementation created more than process improvement. It established a measurable quality standard that competitors could not easily replicate. In the years following deployment, the system became a structural differentiator within the pallet pooling market.
Today, dozens of CHEP service centers operate with Brookhuis inline moisture measurement installations as part of their standard quality control infrastructure.
