VAUGHAN, ON--(Marketwired - Oct 9, 2014) - Axios Mobile Assets Corp. ("Axios" or, the "Company") (: AXA) is pleased to announce its operating statistics since launching its first pallet logistics pool in June 2014 with Trillium and Centrum Valley Farms located in Ohio and Iowa respectively. Four months after providing the farms with 4,000 pallets servicing two Retail distribution centers (DC's) of one of the worlds leading retailers the statistics clearly demonstrate that the Company's pooled lightweight pallet protocol [solution] clearly outperforms wood and plastic pallets that can carry the same loads -- most notably in the area of carbon emissions reduction, pooling operations and cleanliness.
Highlights of Axios' operations to date are as follows:
- Exceptionally high turn rate: With an average run rate of 20 turns per pallet per year, Axios nearly quadruples the turn rate of wooden pallets.
- More pallet miles: In just four months, the contract logged and accumulated 5.9 million pallet miles.
- Less product damage: The contract produced 1 claim out of 248 truck load shipments (0.4%), an exceptionally low level of product damage in the egg sector.
- Higher return rates: The pilot delivered an impressive 84% return rate on pallets shipped with 16% still within the customer supply chain -- Axios has not lost a pallet from its pool through misplacement or pool leakage. -- Carbon offset: Axios's pallets produced an estimated carbon offset of 26.6 metric tons the equivalent of eliminating the annual greenhouse gas emissions from 5.6 passenger vehicles, 9.5 tons of waste sent to landfill, or 28,571 pounds of coal burned. For Retailers or Vendors who use millions of pallets and transport their products millions of miles over the course of business each year, significant verified carbon reductions can be applied against a business's carbon footprint and in some cases monetized. There are approximately 2.1 billion pallets in use in North America. Forecasts indicate that the sale of new and refurbished pallets will continue to grow through 20171. Multiply even a fraction of that number by the emissions reductions offered by the Axios platform, which has the only Verified Carbon Standard Protocol approved by the VCS. The scale of potential carbon benefit would be staggering.
Large, multi-national corporations value carbon reduction in different ways, however credible studies2 site an enterprise value increase of $202,000 to $263,000 per carbon-ton reduced for those publicly traded companies. The Axios pallet pooling solution costs the same or less than its wood or plastic counterparts on a rental or pooled basis, while hosting far more benefits as found in the first four months.
Doug Mack, COO for Trillium farms commented, "The Axios pallet pooling solution has proven itself to be a complimentary and fantastic addition to our program for environmental stewardship, and operational efficiency. We pride ourselves being early adopters and leaders in our industry, and with the physical, operational, and data attributes combined with the Axios pooling service and logistic levels, we think we have made a great choice for ourselves and our supply chain partners."
Additional operational and environmental savings
Axios pallets are composed of FDA-compliant environmentally safe materials, making each pallet 25-40% lighter than their wooden counterparts. The result: reduced fuel costs and lower costs per ton-mile for transport.
With a 10- to 12-year life span, Axios pallets outlive their wooden counterparts by four to six years, with no costly repair cycle and high turns, it produces further operational savings for Retailers and Vendors.
Axios' superior top deck coverage, 94% vs a wood pallets 70%-75% coverage, eliminates the need for slip sheets used on wood pallets -- a boon for the environment that can provide additional savings per issuance.
And with increasing pressure to require all food supply chain players to provide proof of cleanliness, keep in mind that Axios washes each pallet before every pooled use or issuance.
Forward-thinking technology
Logistics represent a vast, untapped opportunity for cost efficiencies, and Retailers are looking for big data solutions. Axios offers an integrated platform that addresses critical supply chain management needs for tracking, monitoring, data collection, pooling and enabling measurable ROI.
"Axios is the first to provide both the pooling and pallet markets with a full-service pooling platform with an integrated logistics and data offering," says Rich MacDonald, President and CEO of Axios. "Our solution addresses unmet supply-chain needs -- in a seamless, scalable manner, with low capital requirements. We've taken the ubiquitous pallet commodity and turned it into a value-add logistics chain enabler for Vendors and Retailers. And although it's viewed as disruptive to the pooling industry, we believe the market is looking for this type of a technology shift and data solution."
By providing access to data that has never been mined and introducing new units of measurement, the platform can exponentially drive efficiencies and process improvements.
How it works
Axios equips each pallet with four RFID tags and a bar code to provide tracking of the pallet and its contents. Axios pallets can also be equipped with embedded sensors that can measure temperature, shock, and soon, CO2 and humidity. For Distributors, this means true chain of custody metrics, safety, accountability and improved, actionable supply-chain visibility.
What's more, the software takes the legwork out of what can be time-consuming data collection, as it automatically tracks and calculates carbon credits.
So what's next?
Axios has every reason to set their sights high. This year's objective: To build out the current contract pallet pool to 30,000, generating up to 600,000 turns or issuances per annum. And by 2017: Increase pallet volume to a minimum of 350,000, with up to 7 million turns or issuances.
Axios is traded on the CSE under the symbol AXA, Axios is currently raising capital to fulfill the backlog of orders, and continue development in its overall M2M (machine to machine) sensor strategy and implementation.
"We see ourselves as a game-changer," says Matt DiDio, Vice President of Sales and Marketing. "We have a vibrant backlog of orders and a clear path to our sales pipeline. Most importantly, we need to continue executing and delivering on the Axios service levels."
Axios Mobile Assets Corp. is a pallet pooling-solutions company that combines its patented, RFID enabled composite pallet with a proprietary cross-platform tracking and information system to reduce shipping costs and enhance the distribution chain for clients.
Our logistics system is particularly well suited for industries that require phytosanitary materials and ease of cleaning and inspection liquid absorption property; such as healthcare, pharmaceutical and the food & beverage industry.
1. US Industry Study with Forecasts for inspection liquid absorption property, Freedonia Group.
2. Voluntary Disclosures and the Firm-Value Effects of Carbon Emissions, Matsumura, Ella Mae, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Prakash, Rachna, Georgetown University; Vera-Muñoz, Sandra C., University of Notre Dame.
This press release is not an offer or a solicitation of an offer of securities for sale in the United States. The securities of Axios have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration.
About Axios Mobile Assets
Axios Mobile Assets Corp. is a logistics enabler, providing greater supply chain visibility. The Axios Solution features next generation lightweight composite pallet technology. The Axios Solution, when applied with its proprietary tracking and information system delivers actionable data and metrics for the users in the value chain. The Axios Solution is gaining market acceptance at Vendors and Retailers based on its unique attributes: lower total cost, longer useful life, and customized configurations. The Axios Solution will increase sustainability performance for its users through the generation and subsequent retirement of carbon credits. It is also possible to monetize the generated credits to provide users with an additional revenue stream, to assist in the overall reduction of cost within their supply chain. Axios was incorporated under the Business Corporations Act (Ontario) and is a reporting issuer in the Province of Ontario. Axios is traded on the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) under the symbol AXA.
Further information concerning the Company can be found at www.axiosma.com, www.sedar.com and www.cnsx.ca.