PLEASANT PRAIRIE, WIS. — National Beef Packing Company LLC and Rehrig Penn Logistics, the services and logistics division of Rehrig Pacific Company, have reached an agreement for R.P.L. to provide National’s Dodge City processing facility with pooling services for a new plastic reusable combo bin. Used to store and move meat trim and grind product both inside the plant and outbound to customers, the combo bins measure 40" x 48" x 47", hold up to 2,600 lbs. of product and are fully collapsible when empty.

Using 100% plastic combo bins will enable National Beef to eliminate using wood pallets and corrugated gaylords during processing. This will reduce the potential for contamination from wood pallets and help eliminate product damage that can occur when corrugated gaylords get too wet to hold their shape, according to the company.

Since the bins are reusable and recyclable, they will help National Beef achieve its goal of using more environmentally sustainable transport packaging. The combo-bin project is also expected to result in significant savings in packaging costs and reduced product damage for National as well.

R.P.L. has set up a 15,000 sq.-ft. service facility in Liberal, Kansas, to serve National’s fleet. In addition to managing freight and washing and repairing combo bins, R.P.L. will employ R.F.I.D. technology to track the movement of every bin and will provide real-time reporting for inventory management and supply-chain analysis using the R.F.I.D. data collected in its proprietary web-based asset recovery and tracking system, P.A.R.T.S.