It is not uncommon for a pallet buyer to receive a new quote that is cheaper than what is currently being paid. It can be an emotional moment. Has the buyer been ripped off by the incumbent supplier, or is there more to the story?
Buyers of new pallets can create better value for their respective companies by understanding a few basics. Armed with knowledge, pallet purchasing decision-makers can better understand why bids may vary in price and why the cheapest might not be best. They can better anticipate pitfalls that may result in suboptimal solutions. With this outcome in mind, Pallet Enterprise reached out to Bill Schneider, Vice President – Sales at REMMEY – The Pallet Company and Brad Gething, Ph.D., Director of Science and Technology Integration at the National Wooden Pallet & Container Association (NWPCA), to share some of their insights.
Simple changes can make pallets stiffer, stronger and more durable
Improve pallet durability and strength through simple design modifications. When pallet connection strength is limiting, pallet durability is enhanced by butting an interior deck board against each top lead board. The butted interior board acts as a brace to help withstand forklift impact. Another simple solution is to increase deck board thickness or stringer height, resulting in an exponential increase in strength and stiffness, Gething noted. Another consideration is to reduce the deck board span between stringers. This modification can be accomplished by moving in the outside stringers. Not all pallet users like a wing pallet because the board ends can catch on things, but it always improves strength and stiffness.
Fasteners, materials, and their interaction, matter
Gething illustrates the critical relationship of good quality pallet material and fasteners with a simple analogy. “If you have a titanium pallet, and it’s held together with scotch tape, it’s not going to be very durable,” he observed, “because the boards are just going to pop off. But if the converse is true, that the connections are screwed and glued, and if your pallet is made out of balsa wood, it is not going to be very durable. You are going to be breaking boards all the time. The key is to find that perfect balance between the strength of the connection and the strength of the material itself.” Investment in more and better fasteners can substantially boost the durability of a multi-use pallet.
For his part, Schneider stresses the importance of pallet buyers understanding basics about the various lumber species used in the building of pallets. For example, Poplar is a hardwood and has superior anti-staining / leaching properties but has lesser strength and durability concerns compared to other hardwoods. In addition, with the help of PDS and depending on lumber “markets”, we can play pine lumber against hardwood lumber, duplicating the results of a hardwood pallet design, substituting pine. It might require more lumber, but that pine design will be equal in strength and possible save the customer money based on market conditions comparing hardwood design to the alternative pine design.
Nominal and actual measurements are not the same
Nominal sizing in lumber refers to the board’s size when it is first rough cut, before drying and planing. Actual or finished dimension refer to what you see with your tape measure when you measure the finished lumber. When it comes to pallets, there are also nominal sizing considerations, and these can be critical for pallet buyers to understand. Schneider cautioned pallet buyers to think of their pallet specification as a guideline versus a concrete document.
The typical RFQ’s never end up as an “apples to apples” comparisons. As an example Schneider offered that some RFQ’s might specify half-inch deck boards. Depending on how you cut your decking, some pallet suppliers will quote a 1/2" cut from 4/4 boards, some will quote a full half-inch from cants, while others will quote 7/16" on a lesser count cut from that same cant.
Unfortunately, in some circles, all three options are considered half-inch. For customers already receiving 7/16 deck boards, there will be no issue, cut anyway it will be a win-win. But if a customer is used to receiving a fuller
1/2" and is enticed to the 7/16" quote due to lower pricing, they might be disappointed by reduced pallet performance and possible failures. When nominal sizes are provided instead of actual sizes, there is a price disconnect. “I tell everybody pallet prices are in direct proportion to the amount of lumber in your pallet,” he cautioned. When Remmey encounters uncertainty in a bid regarding nominal versus actual sizing, the company’s approach is to quote it both ways.
Know your supply chain
Understanding your supply chain is critical to pallet selection. Below are some common disconnects between buyers and the plants that they purchase for.
• Some pallet users’ have pallet requirements that must be met. Those specifications were well thought out, specific and vetted. Those designs cannot be changed.
• Another concern might be the introduction of mold in some supply chains, such as food and pharmaceutical companies, Schneider observed, mold is typically not an issue in most industrial and construction applications where pallets and finished goods are typically stored outdoors.
• It is also essential to know where your pallets will end up, that end destination could have a significant impact on pallet selection. Some end customers, such as big box chains may have very specific pallet requirements that must be met.
• Heat-treated pallets are required for international shipments. That being a fact, that creates another decision for customers that ship their pallets both domestically and internationally. Do they go with a split inventory of “untreated” and “Heat Treated” pallets? Or order all Heat Treated? Schneider shared, the additional cost of heat treating a pallet might be $1, so the pallet buyer will save money by running a split inventory. That savings can quickly vanish, however, if the untreated domestic pallet inadvertently gets used for international exported shipment and is rejected at the foreign point of entry. Going with an entirely heat-treated inventory is a way to idiot-proof the process and might save money in the long run.
Know your material handling environment
Pallet buyers will benefit from knowing their material handling environment, such as racking, stacking and material handling equipment interactions. Will unit loads be stacked two, three or four loaded pallets high? Stacking practices have a significant bearing on pallet design and capacity requirements. The type of material handling equipment being used is also important. If conveyors, chain drives and roller are in play, that will dictate bottom deck board placement and configuration. Pallet handling equipment, whether forklift, walkie trucks, hand pallet jacks, or all the above can be an issue. “With pallet jacks, a four-stringer pallet can't have the stringers evenly spaced. They must be clustered in the middle to allow a pallet jack entry,” Schneider explained. “That clustering impacts the weight carrying capacity due to increased free span compared to a pallet with evenly spaced stringers.”
Understand delivery requirements
Transportation requirements can also affect the landed pallet prices that pallet buyers will pay. Delivery on flatbed or lowboy trailers, typically allows for more pallets to be loaded, amortizing the fixed delivery cost over more units. If the end user is used to receiving pallets in van trailers, however, the switch might impose inconveniences, delay in unloading and an overall hassle at the plant level. Also a consideration is that in mold-sensitive applications, flatbed trailer delivery will increase the chances of pallets getting wet. If improperly dried and stored, that wetness could spell disaster. The bottom line, Schneider stressed, is for buyers to understand the delivery requirements for all the plant locations they are buying for.
Schneider takes pride in taking time to educate buyers. Building confidence through information leads to stronger relationships and a better understanding of overall value. “When customers have confidence in the process and understand the process, they aren’t going to leave you because you are 2% high, because guess what, they appreciate that together we have dotted the “I’s” and crossed the “T’s” to provide them with the best value.
