News - Tagged: wooden pallets
2013 Pallet Usage and Trending Survey
Each fall, Modern Materials Handling conducts and publishes an annual pallet survey that provides valuable insight into current buying trends and usage patterns for our industry. If you aren’t a subscriber to MMH, or you haven’t had time to read Bob Trebilcock’s Talking Pallets with Modern Readers, we have prepared a summary of key findings for your review.
The study is based on responses from 353 qualified MMH readers employed at locations using pallets. At the 30,000 foot level, the survey results suggest the pallet market will grow annually by 3.5% through 2017. Although price remains the most commonly cited factor influencing a purchasing decision (56% of respondents, down from 63% last year), cost-per-use was cited by 43% or participants this year. This trend suggests that pallet buyers remain concerned with costs but that logistics professionals are taking a more long term view when evaluating suppliers. Other key considerations cited in this year’s survey include:Continue Reading…
Online Retailing and the Future of Pallets
With the holiday shopping season just around the corner, economic forecasters are already trying to make sense of the numbers. How will retailers fare this year? Will consumer spending rise or fall when compared with last year’s numbers? When will 2012 retailer profit levels move from red to black? Chaille Brindley’s recent article in Pallet Enterprise takes this discussion one step further, using the upcoming holiday shopping season to explore connections between the growth of online retailing and the future of pallet demand.Continue Reading…
Five Keys to Optimal Pallet Design
Pallet Enterprise’s archived article titled “Balance Your Pallet Design” explains how optimal pallet performance is achieved by striking a balance between five interacting design considerations: strength, stiffness, durability, functionality, and cost. By focusing on the interaction between these variables and taking the time to consider specific product and distribution environments, logistics professionals and suppliers have the best chance of specifying the proper pallet for a given application. What follows is a brief summary of each consideration. Continue Reading…
Clarifying IPPC- ISPM 15 Standards for Recycled Pallets
The ISPM-15 standard is designed to prevent the spread of insects and disease via overseas wood packaging materials such as crates, dunnage, and pallets. The ISPM 15 logo stamp certifies that a wooden pallet has been manufactured using debarked lumber and heat treated or fumigated, making it free of insects and safe for export use. Although the ISPM 15 standard for new pallets is quite unambiguous, the same cannot be said of recycled pallets. Because recycled pallets constitute a significant component of the available pool, the National Wooden Pallet & Container Association (NWPCA) recently sought clarification from American Lumber Standard Committee (ALSC) to eliminate discrepancies in how various ISPM-15 certification agencies view recycled pallets.Continue Reading…
How Pallet Selection Can Reduce Your Carbon Footprint and Logistics Costs
We have arrived at the dawn of a new age of pallet marketing where “less” is becoming a popular area of consideration for decision makers in the logistics and materials handling fields. Although much of today’s promotional pallet literature still touts more – more size and material choices, greater strength, or increased resistance to mold and insect infestations – the notion of less is taking off in marketing circles. Nowhere is this better illustrated than in the carbon footprint discussion, as Rick LeBlanc suggests in a recent article appearing in Pallet Enterprise.Continue Reading…
CHEP v. 9BLOC and the Case for Molded Presswood Pallets
Attempts by Wal-Mart, Costco, and other mass retailers to minimize product damage and create greater handling efficiencies have helped the block pallet supplant the stringer pallet in recent years. Initially, the big box block pallet preference prompted many manufacturers to consider solutions from CHEP, a global leader in the pallet rental market, servicing over 300,000 customers worldwide. Although CHEP offered a universally accepted big box pallet solution, the ubiquitous sea of blue came with a price. Some manufacturers disliked the notion of a forced partnership with a distant, corporate entity capable of exercising such control over the supply and demand of the pallet pool. With fewer suppliers contributing to the pool, manufacturers found themselves facing a pallet market fraught with uncertainty. Other manufacturers were reluctant to end longstanding relationships with local pallet suppliers. Despite these concerns, the tide had shifted, and at least in the mass retailer world, traditional stringers lost favor to newer, more expensive block pallets.Continue Reading…
Reduce Shipping Costs and Go Green with Custom Boxes and Litco Pallets
A recent online survey conducted by Peerless Research Group for Packsize International cites reduced shipping costs as the primary concern of logistics and materials handling professionals seeking to improve operational efficiencies. The study was based on findings from 521 logistics and materials handling managers responsible for the daily shipment of more than 2,000 packages from their respective facilities.
Although this survey is welcome news to executives at Packsize International, a company specializing in the manufacture of lean corrugated packaging systems used to create custom size boxes, this research also reinforces the message we share with our prospects and customers: lighter pallet solutions can substantially reduce shipping costs.Continue Reading…
Safer, Greener, Smarter Pallets: The Future is Now
Rick LeBlanc’s June article in Pallet Enterprise offers a thoughtful discussion of issues and trends facing logistics professionals and pallet manufacturers. From “smart pallets” to building a more sustainable supply chain, staying current with the latest trends in the logistics world has never been more important.Continue Reading…
Building the Case for a Greener Supply Chain
David Biederman’s recent story in Journal of Commerce suggests the growing environmental logistics movement is more than just a corporate nod to sustainability. Although sustainable logistics makes for good PR, companies such as Nike, Wal-Mart, Cisco Systems and Baxter International are also embracing a greener supply chain to improve bottom line.Continue Reading…
Litco Pallets Used for Shipping Lincoln Electric Welding Equipment
With a new presswood pallet, Lincoln Electric is meeting European export requirements, streamlining its pallet inventory, and getting a sustainability benefit to boot.
Inca presswood pallets are helping Lincoln Electric comply with export shipping requirements for pallets to be free of bark and insects. “In the past, our shipments to Europe were sometimes held up for inspection,” says Tom Soster, manufacturing engineering manager for Cleveland-based manufacturer of arc welding machines and consummables. “Now, the presswood pallets flow right through.”