After some initial missteps, Young turned to Go Fast Manufacturing and was surprised at how Dan Berken and his team were able to fit so much equipment in a relatively tight space.
Ron Young stated, “We bought some used equipment and tried to piece together a good raw material processing system. People told me to go big right away and spend the money for the right technology mix. We tried to patch together a solution. But it just didn’t work.”
Within three months, R.B. Pallet outgrew its new dust collection system, and the patchwork saw equipment approach never seemed to hit the desired outcome. Dan Berken of Go Fast Manufacturing came in and analyzed the R.B Pallet plant. Young explained, “Dan found a way to put more machinery than I thought was possible in our 22,500-square-foot facility. He developed three plant layouts, and we finalized one in April of last year. The machinery was built and installed in September.”
The team behind Go Fast operate a pallet lumber facility and run everything that they produce in their own plant. Young added, “Dan Berken knows the industry because he produces pallet lumber himself.”
Young admitted that you usually have to build in capacity greater than you at first might think. He said, “Don’t skimp on things like dust collection. You have to get enough capacity to be able to handle production increases and not just in the primary machinery for the install.”
One Machine Changes Everything – Becomes “Combo Kings”
One of the reasons that the sawing operation is so important is the focus that R.B. Pallet puts on producing combo pallets. Back in 2016, R.B Pallet installed a new Viking Express 403 designed to produce combo pallets using recycled lumber. This machine has a production capability of 1,200 pallets or more on a shift. It uses the same board feeder as the much faster Viking Turbo 606, but it was designed to fill the gap between the Viking Champion and Turbo models.
Young explained, “We have become known as the combo kings of our area. A lot of people said that we couldn’t run recycled boards like that on an automated nailing machine. But if you control the dimensions, the Express 403 will run recycled boards well.”
Young added, “The Viking 403 Express totally changed our operation. We realized we needed to produce our own material to work well on this nailing machine.”
That’s where the upgrades to the sawing operation have become so critical. Young said, “Cutting our own materials helps ensure consistent width. We have a sizer in the line to ensure consistency, which is important when running used lumber to make combo pallets.”
Young further explained that using Viking nails makes all the difference when it comes to smooth operation with recycled boards.
Exploring In-depth the Sawing Department Upgrades
The new saw system boosted production from 6,000-8,000 board feet per day to about 18,000-22,000 board feet per day. Previously, the saw system used a patchwork of equipment that just didn’t run well together.
The team at Go Fast developed several different system designs before landing on the right one. R.B. Pallet is also a cut stock customer of Berken’s sawmill (Shiocton Cut Stock). They have had a relationship for years through pallet lumber, and Ron Young knew that Berken had a good mind for coming up with sawing solutions.
The new cut stock saw line has a Newman Whitney KM-16 trim saw that dumps onto the Go Fast green chain system. The chain system features an auto feeder to the resaw with return for oversized material. The boards are then processed through a Go Fast resaw, Go Fast sizer and a Go Fast deduster. From there, boards are transferred to a grading conveyor and finally processed through a notcher and stacker supplied by Pallet Machinery Group.
After the initial install last year, Go Fast went back and installed an add-on sizer to improve production and maximize labor. Dan Berken, president of Go Fast, stated, “We continue to work with Ron on how to increase his yield while eliminating manpower. For example, when he ran his old sizer, it required two additional people. The new sizer we installed does not require any operators; instead it became a part of the resaw system.”
One of the major advantages of the Go Fast equipment is the safety factor. Young told how Berken made some improvements to the saw design after finding some safety enhancements for his own sawmill operation. Young admitted, “Dan came in and made those same improvements at my shop and didn’t charge me for them. Go Fast prioritizes safety with its machinery. This includes effective guarding and safety features.”
Young handled some of the install process for some of the latest equipment himself due to COVID-19 limitations for some suppliers. He recognized other people who stepped up and covered core tasks. He said, “Barb Meulemans, our office manager, took over all the office work so that I could be on the floor to help get the plant upgrades up and running.”
Another person who has been critical in the installation and upgrade process is the plant manager, Geoff Liptak. Young exclaimed, “Geoff kept everything running while I have been focused on plant upgrades. He literally has become the heart and soul of R.B. Pallet over the last few years. He is well known in the Northeast Wisconsin pallet market and is retiring at the end of the year. I really wish he would stay; he’s a valuable guy. It’s going to be hard to replace him.”
Berken added, “In my early years, I sold cut stock to Liptak. He is a great guy to know and work with. He will be missed in his retirement, and our team wishes him well.”
Improving the Recycling Department
Beyond the improvements to the new pallet and sawmill parts of the operation, R.B. Pallet has also upgraded its recycling area by installing a PRS Group repair line in 2017. Jeff Riddle of PRS worked with Ron Young to design a system that included conveyors and three stackers. Young built himself the work tables and frames for hanging the nail guns.
These enhancements took production from 700-800 pallets per shift to 2,000-2,500 pallets per shift. The recycling department uses Heartland Fabrication dismantlers that are tied in with conveyors to move boards to a round table where workers sort the material. Young said that they try to cut as many 40-inch boards as possible. He added, “Not much gets thrown away here.”
Waste wood and material is ground up by TLB Wood Products every other week and used for boiler fuel or mulch. Sawdust goes to animal bedding.
The market has changed a bit recently. Ron said, “We are not running as many combo pallets right now due to volume demand. We are using a lot of #2 lumber… We are moving a lot of recycled pallets right now as lumber prices spike.”
Company Background
The R.B. Pallet Service story began with Ron’s father, Ronald Young Sr. He founded the company after working in the grocery business and noticed a lot of pallets were going to landfills. He saw the need for pallet repair and named the company R. B. Pallet for his first name, Ron, and his wife’s first name, Bernice. For the first seven years, the company stuck with recycled pallets before getting into new pallet production. Ron Young Jr. started repairing pallets when he was 12 years old and took over the company when his father retired in 1997. Today, the company produces 16,000 pallets per week and employs 32 people.
Changes Since COVID-19
While COVID-19 brought some challenges when it came to the recent equipment installs, overall business has been good this year. Young admitted, “We didn’t really see a drop in business because of COVID-19. Most of our customers are essential businesses. Sales did drop a bit in June, but it has since recovered and is going strong. We think we are going to finish off 2020 as a good year.”
Go Fast Experiences Growth, Upgrades Manufacturing Capabilities
Four years ago, Go Fast Manufacturing had four employees and specialized in a few pieces of equipment. Today, the company has exploded in growth and now has a team of 15 people and over 30 products with several more in development.
Kevin Wieser, managing member and machine designer for Go Fast, said, “As our company is growing, so are the selections of products that we offer. We are no longer known as just the ‘resaw and deduster guys.’ We now get calls for all types of equipment and production lines. Our new selection of notchers has been especially successful for us.”
This year the company bought a new shop facility that is significantly larger than the old one. Wieser explained, “This has greatly reduced our lead-times, allows for more room to store/stock equipment, and it provides us with more room to bring in more tools/capabilities. We had outgrown our old facility and it was to the point where the building was constraining our growth.”
With all of this new room, Go Fast has acquired some new shop equipment. This includes four Axis CNC mill machines, a CNC lathe, a CNC plasma table, and an indexable steel cutting bandsaw. The new machinery enables Go Fast to fabricate a lot more critical and tight tolerance parts in-house.
For more information on Go Fast, call 800-854-7439 or visit www.gofastmfg.com.
Go Fast is actively looking for additional sales personnel to meet its forecasted growth as a leader in the industry.
