Axios Mobile Assets has announced it has completed installation of an automated washing and sanitization line at its pallet cleaning facility in Ohio. The new line positions Axios to offer egg and poultry producers a unique solution for combating Avian Influenza and other food-related diseases, as harmful organisms are often transmitted by equipment that has seen use at infected farms. The biosecurity benefits of Axios sensor-equipped, composite pallets apply to perishable foods, pharmaceuticals and other goods that risk contamination as they move through the supply chain to their final point of processing or sale.
Enhanced biosecurity is not the only advantage of the facility upgrade – automation also increases processing capacity and lowers the cost per pallet sanitized over the long term. Axios pallets are taken to the Ohio facility to be sanitized after each use. As pallets come off the sanitization line they go into a sealed trailer to eliminate outside influence until they arrive at the next farm. The company plans to establish similar facilities in other areas of the U.S. as it continues the rollout of its fast-growing pallet pooling solution.
“Our team worked with customers, partners and food safety professionals to ensure that when our pallets are delivered to food producers they exceed standards for sanitization at both the national and state levels,” said Axios Mobile Assets President/CEO Richard MacDonald. “With the addition of this sanitization process to Axios pallets during every cycle, we set ourselves apart from our traditional competition, providing an additional layer of risk mitigation for our retail partners and vendors in the cold chain. I am proud that the team was able to take a best-in-class process and make it even better, thereby increasing safety for the food our pallets help to transport.”
Axios Logistics Solutions President David Wickwire added, “Analysis of pallets before and after washing and sanitizing evidenced extraordinary reductions in a variety of substances that can support growth of harmful bacteria and harbor disease. Pallets come into contact with so many objects within the supply chain that sanitizing them properly is akin to a first line of defense. Our new capabilities in Ohio make Axios a leader in pallet biosecurity standards.”
The sanitization facility upgrade is part of Axios’ preparation for an audit focused on quality control and internal HACCP planning. The company is working to complete the audit and obtain certification under the GFSI framework by the end of 2015.
