At times, the most effective strategy for fostering growth does not involve the acquisition of new equipment. A beneficial change could be to develop systems and infrastructure to handle new customers and improve communication within your company.
This was precisely the situation faced by Amigo Pallets just over a year ago. Amigo Pallets is a prominent pallet recycler and custom pallet builder that provides its services to the Miami and Punta Gorda areas of Florida.
As the company added a second location and took on more business, they found that the existing systems were not working well in areas such as, order flow, dispatching and customer service.
Alex Alfonso, operations manager for Amigo Pallets, remembered, “Under the old approach, I was receiving close to 75 calls a day, or sometimes more, just in relaying information. It had become cumbersome and difficult to manage.” But that has all changed as the company has fully jumped into using Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software designed specifically for the pallet industry. A little over a year ago, Amigo Pallets made the switch from spreadsheets and Microsoft Access to Pallet Connect.
Alex explained, “Front loading the order, production and customer information into Pallet Connect has limited the necessity for those phone calls and allowed me to leverage my time much better…It just benefits all departments.” For the warehouse team, the loading and offloading became easier, in terms of their time and logistically when they are getting the product to the client.”
Pallet Connect is the first cloud-based ERP software developed entirely for the pallet sector. David Lopez, business manager for Amigo Pallets, commented, “Standard small business accounting software won’t capture the intricacies of a pallet operation. There are always gaps. And many of the longstanding industry-specific solutions are server-based software. We wanted a cloud-based system to integrate with other software and organizations.”
Phil Varley, president and founder of Pallet Connect, suggested that cloud-based ERPs open up greater versatility. He said, “There is so much flexibility, and it’s a lot more open. It’s much easier, for example, to carry out updates. With cloud-based software, you can easily integrate with any other cloud-based system.”
Pallet Connect boasts an open API and offers technical support services to assist customers in connecting with non-standard sales or accounting programs. The solution already has direct integrations with QuickBooks, Xero, the Pallet Design System™ to name a few. Pallet Connect can handle every aspect of the pallet industry in terms of purchasing, order tracking, stock management, production, logistics, trailer tracking and brokerage.
Why Select Pallet Connect?
Lopez expressed that Pallet Connect seemed to be the best fit because of the cloud-based aspect of the program, the cost and the architecture, which easily facilitates interactions with other pallet companies. Lopez said, “Pallet Connect has helped us position ourselves to our clients in a different manner. It has enabled us to be a player in regional and national accounts.”
The leadership team behind Amigo Pallets understood that they needed to change their processes and digitize some critical aspects of their communication and operation. Alex said, “Operationally speaking, there’s a big shift over time. We used to have a lot of paperwork guiding the operation. Pallet Connect has allowed us to go paperless. One big benefit is we don’t lose paperwork anymore. A driver’s capability to get electronic sign-off for orders is huge.”
Raul Alfonso, a co-owner of Amigo Pallets and the operations manager for the Punta Gorda location, added, “Our mission is to be there when our clients need us. This technology allows us to grow with and service our clients better. Pallet Connect drives our mission and vision, and that’s what makes me excited about being able to bring on this new technology to our company.” The Pallet Connect system can support multi-facility businesses. The site information is kept separate but can be accessed within one login.
Another major plus of the software for Lopez is the cost effectiveness. Pallet Connect is offered in four different packages and price tiers. This versatility allows Pallet Connect to be a solution for varying sizes of pallet providers. Varley agreed, “We’re making ERP technology available to everybody. We’ve got pallet companies that are doing maybe a hundred pallets a day all the way up to organizations producing 20,000 pallets a day or more.”
Phil Varley of Pallet Connect added, “As well as modules to assist in pallet and crate production, Pallet Connect has a full brokerage module. This allow our users to be both a pallet company and a broker at the same time. When they need more coordination across multiple locations to service a customer, our software enables full tracking of orders and the production process.”
Pallet Connect assists with selling to major national broker networks. Varley explained, “We want to give our customers a platform to compete with the big players. Pallet Connect can be used to bring local suppliers together to compete on a national or regional basis. This offers a solution to disrupt the model of the big players.”
Lopez said, “The Pallet Connect software is inexpensive considering all the functionality you get.” Before Amigo Pallets selected Pallet Connect, Lopez interviewed customers and did some significant product research and verification. He really liked the people behind the product and the support that they offer. He recalled, “All the Pallet Connect clients that I spoke with had not been disappointed. I think their growth since we started working with them just kind of speaks for itself.”
Raul’s wife, Olga Alfonso, started the company back in 2010. Raul stated, “My wife is even more old school than myself, so she was definitely a hard sell when it came to Pallet Connect.” But Olga even commented, “My son Alex and son-in-law David have put the company on another level, David with the sales and Alex with the logistics. We’re moving forward well into the future with the Pallet Connect software.”
ERP Lessons
There are common mistakes that people make when it comes to implementing an EPR. Lopez advised, “You need to be strategic in how you roll out the ERP. It’s really understanding human behavior and being aware of the fact that most people don’t like change. You must find a way to integrate it into what you are doing. We found it worked by integrating in stages, the sales transactions first and then the purchasing. Finally, we added production.”
Varley concurred, “You can’t go into an ERP transition with a wishy-washy or half-hearted mindset. You need to follow the process. Sometimes, you will have some staff that just don’t like change. People like routine. Initially, they may feel uncomfortable. But that’s just something you have to overcome. Leaders must stay the course and push through initial objections, because after the onboarding, the benefits to the staff and the company are profound.”
Pallet Connect tells customers that the first month or two, there may be some struggles with the transition process as with any other change at a company. Another important consideration is to find a champion at the company to lead and guide through the integration and transition.
Lopez shared some key benefits of Pallet Connect. He said, “The democratization of information provides access to data for forklift drivers, managers and station operators. Access to this data helps everyone think more about what they are doing and how they can be more efficient.”
Alex agreed, “The biggest benefit of Pallet Connect is key information available in real time to anyone who needs it. This has been huge in terms of leveraging our time.” Alex added, “Logistically, drivers are able to grab the right trailer without having to come into the office for more information. They can access delivery routes on their smartphones. Dispatching is much easier. It has reduced the number of calls needed to coordinate with customers. It’s just a win-win from a communication and an expense perspective.”
Another way to fully utilize your ERP system is to make sure line workers see critical data. Lopez recognized, “With Pallet Connect we had a unique ability to use the overhead display screens feature. Not only does it track piece work rate costing, but it also creates oversight and some healthy competition within the warehouse team.”
Operational Flow and Process
Amigo Pallets has two locations including Miami and Punta Gorda. At the Miami facility, the company carries out pallet repair and produces new and custom pallets. The Miami location does a lot of combo production and some new pallets by hand. Workers there take apart pallets for recycled lumber using two Smart Products band resaws. Those boards are then trimmed to size or cut off using a Smart automatic trim saw and a Smart chop saw. All of the machinery at the Amigo facilities is Smart equipment except for a PRS dismantler at the Punta Gorda facility.
Lopez explained, “We work with Smart because they are a good company. Most importantly, their machines last a very long time. We still have two of the original dismantlers that we put into service 10 plus years ago.”
The manual chop saw has been in service for more than 10 years. “The long-life of the Smart Products equipment just speaks for itself,” said Lopez.
The Punta Gorda location focuses on recycled pallets and has less automation.
Pallet Connect to Launch New Features Soon; Existing Features Can Be Game Changers
One benefit of ERPs in the pallet industry is that providers are always improving the software and adding new features and functionality. With a cloud-based system, it is very easy for Pallet Connect to roll out new features. The updates are tested and then launched every three months. New features can be influenced by customer feedback or updates in the industry. Varley said, “One new feature is that Pallet Connect recently launched is a whole new series of National Broker BOL (Bill of Lading) templates that integrate with and streamline the business processes of major national brokers. This eliminates the requirement to print, sign and scan back the BOL – it can be fully digital. This feature helps to prevent lost paperwork that could result in late payment or no payment at all.”
Also, Pallet Connect is integrating with various pieces of equipment that are commonly used in the industry. Varley explained, “We can currently integrate with Alliance Automation and PRS repair lines but we’re working with a lot of the big machinery companies to integrate their equipment, their repair lines and all their robots, this year, using our open API.”
This integration helps get direct, instantaneous feedback on production as well as real time changes in inventory levels. Varley also predicted, “We are working on adding more CRM functionality this year. We are going to add more capabilities for different Pallet Connect customers to work together on projects.”
Customers take data protection very seriously, and so does Pallet Connect. The company has data encryption and is working on SOC 2 compliance this year, which is the gold standard of third-party auditing for data protection. Varley admittingly declared, “Our customer’s data and information is paramount, and it’s absolute; it’s essential that we keep that as secure as possible.”
Some existing features have major benefits for the industry. But many people are not aware of the fine details of the software’s functionality. Varley admitted, “I think people at some pallet companies sometimes don’t realize that the power of Pallet Connect and exactly what it can do. We have a great group of in-house developers who have created a very expansive solution for the pallet industry.” He adds “Our customers are currently the key sellers of Pallet Connect – we are always grateful for the positive feedback, it’s exciting for us and motivates the team to continue providing an outstanding system. Recently, most new sign-ups are from word of mouth, and we see our customer retention rate is around 98% after onboarding.”
The customer portal allows a customer to log into Pallet Connect and provides them with access to essential information such as, payments, status of their order, order history, production status and even tracking of order delivery dates. The portal also allows customers to place orders and make payments through Pallet Connect. By utilizing GPS trackers, alerts can be sent out when an order was delivered. The system also monitors email communications, and the status of the message is displayed.
Pallet Connect also has established lumber purchasing and production module. Varley pointed out, “You can purchase your lumber through Pallet Connect. Our software can bring all of that cost into building your pallet to help better determine true margins. Our system will even predict future costs and provide a Cost of Goods report based on purchase orders of existing lumber inventory.”
Customer Service Focused Approach
One critical driver for Amigo Pallets is to be a friendly, high quality service provider to customers. That’s why the company recently opened the Punta Gorda location in (insert data). Raul explained, “This location gives us the ability to expand our market geographically and Pallet Connect has helped facilitate this rapid growth. We can now go all the way to North Florida, even to South Georgia in some cases with our own vehicles. This helps us live up to our mission to grow with our clients.”
Amigo Pallets opened up this location near a major customer, which has helped fuel the company’s growth. More than just being there, you have to produce quality work.
Lopez recognized, “Everyone says that they have quality. But it can be really hard to deliver this consistently. We have developed a very simple process to monitor quality control and hold everyone accountable. Our standard operation procedures ensure that loads are checked, and our sales people are regularly communicating with clients so that we know quickly if a problem arises.”
Sales visits are a tool to monitor inventory, better forecast needs and evaluate performance. Also, the company has drivers who know the company’s vision and are trained to look for areas where customers may want or need changes.
Timing can be everything, including running on weekends when necessary. Raul said, “We pride ourselves in having a turnaround of 24 hours of somebody with an order. We’ll be there within 24 hours. Every customer who has been with us for a while, has the phone number of the management team.”
Sometimes customers need something more than pallets. Lopez shared, “We strive to help our clients by offering trailers for storage, transportation for storage, logistics services. We try to help our customers solve problems, even if they have little or nothing to do with pallets. We have helped even with activities like separating clothing hangers using third-party labor.”
Lopez summed up their approach when he said, “That’s why we are called Amigo Pallets. We try to treat our customers just like you would a friend. As long as we live up to that name, everything takes care of itself.”
Pallet Connect Key Features
• Robust Customer Management Module: Tailored specifically for pallet companies, this module offers CRM-like functionalities for comprehensive customer profiling, precise order tracking, and efficient invoicing and quoting processes.
• Vendor Management: Our dedicated module simplifies the purchasing and pickup of recycled pallets, streamlining vendor interactions from trailer offloading to coordinating with smaller vendors.
• Lumber Purchasing Module: This feature allows for the creation of purchase orders and close monitoring of lumber costs per board foot, ensuring strict budget control and resource management.
• Broker Management: Ideal for both pallet brokers and companies working on their behalf. It automates paperwork generation, reducing the need for constant scanning and emailing.
• Logistics Module: Enhanced with advanced logistics and dispatch capabilities, including GPS-tagged trailer tracking and Google Maps integration. This module simplifies the scheduling and tracking of orders and deliveries. There is an option to integrate with 3rd party transport companies and owner-operator drivers.
• Multi-Facility Support: Easily add multiple facilities to ensure cohesive and efficient workflows across various locations.
• Various User Types: Includes different user types for internal and external users, along with customer and vendor portals.
• Integrated Time Clock Feature: Makes tracking employee hours straightforward and error-free, and automatically adds labor costs to production tasks.
• Comprehensive Production Module: Covers everything from repairs to heat treatment, with an option to include additional features.
• Kiosks login for workstations.
• Overhead display screens for the warehouse and office.
• Barcode labeling, scanning and tracking.
• System Integration: With our open API, Pallet Connect seamlessly integrates with any cloud-based system.
• Direct Integrations: Includes direct integrations with QuickBooks Online, Xero, Google Maps, Power BI, PDS, Best Pallet and many more.
• Live support with chat option, onboarding guidance, tailored training plans and modules.
• User specific layouts including shortcuts, themes, reports and language choices.
• Option to setup custom stock categories that may be non-pallet related.
• Pre-installed reports built for the pallet industry.
