TALCO, Texas — When Pallet Enterprise featured B Square Manufacturing in an article in the summer of 2020, owner Bobby Bryan was looking forward to the future.
“I believe the big key to our future is my daughter stepping into the company and having great key employees,” he said at the time.
The future is now. Enter Kimberly Taylor 23, Bobby’s daughter, who began working with her father that same summer. Kimberly began working with Bobby after her husband, Brent, was discharged from the Marine Corps and the couple moved back to Texas.
B Square Manufacturing has been growing and has added two more nailing machines from Universal Machinery Sales, a key supplier. Mona Tracy, president of Universal Machinery Sales, described her relationship with Bobby and his company. She said, “I have seen Bobby grow his business and be successful. Now, he is passing along some of the responsibility to his daughter. It is great to see stories like this one where families work together in the pallet industry. Bobby is a customer, but also a highly valued friend.”
Bobby only started B Square Manufacturing in 2017, but he has been steeped in the pallet industry. He grew up in Clarksville, Texas. At age 18 he went to work for a childhood friend, Lance Downs, who started Northeast Texas Pallet. He worked for Lance for 25 years, eventually managing the company’s pallet manufacturing operations. (Lance later sold Northeast Texas Pallet.)
B Square Manufacturing, with its pallet operations in a 15,000-square-foot building, has grown in the past 18 months or so. Last year it shipped 28-30 loads of pallets per week. Now it has about 30 employees and has been averaging about 35 loads per week. The company is located in Talco in northeast Texas, a little over 120 miles northeast of Dallas, which puts it close to Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.
The company is primarily a manufacturer of new softwood pallets. Ninety-five percent of the company’s production is new pallets. The remaining 5% is combo pallets made of a mix of new lumber and recycled pallet parts. Nearly all – about 98% – of the company’s pallets are made of pine lumber and the rest from hardwood.
B Square manufactures a relatively small range of pallet footprints or sizes, only about 25-30. Some of the most common sizes are 42×42, 48×48 and 48×44. The company builds some oversize pallets and skids – some as long as 8, 10, and 14 feet; they are assembled by hand.
B Square will supply customers up to 500 miles away. Bobby has grown the company by seeking accounts that manufacture construction materials because those kinds of businesses are prevalent in the region. B Square also builds pallets for other pallet suppliers; about 30% of its pallet production is sold through brokers or other pallet companies.
Service is what sets his company apart, according to Bobby. B Square will take rush orders for customers hundreds of miles away and deliver the pallets in eight hours or less.
Training Up the Next Generation
Kimberly started working alongside Bobby as she began learning the business and the pallet industry, and she quickly learned the importance of customer relations. “I went and visited customers,” among other things, she recalled.
She continues to have regular contact with some of B Square’s largest customers and is involved with customer service; she makes phone calls to customers every morning.
“We kind of went over the fundamentals of pallets,” said Bobby, when Kimberly joined the company. He showed her different designs, different types of lumber and cut stock. He took her on trips to stores so she could see how pallets were being used. Naturally, she also spent time in the plant, getting familiar with different types of deck boards and stringers and pallet assembly operations.
“She got a lot of on-the-job training,” recalled Bobby. “Kimberly’s pretty sharp. She’s got a lot of common sense, and she’s very smart. And she has a good memory.”
“She took hold of it really quick,” added Bobby. “There’ll come a day when she’ll be better at this than I am. Work to her is almost like a hobby.”
Kimberly’s husband (Brent) is taking classes at a nearby community college and hopes eventually to study mechanical engineering at the University of Texas-Arlington.
Bobby and Lance (Bobby’s former boss) bought a sawmill business in Mount Pleasant, about 20 miles away, that makes cut stock. They acquired the mill in June. Lance was interested in getting back into the business on the sawmill side and knew Bobby’s company could use more cut stock. They purchased the mill as a 50-50 partnership. “It ensures we’ll have plenty of wood,” commented Bobby. “This way we have another good supply of pallet lumber.” The mill sells excess production on the open market. Lance visits the sawmill weekly and has input in the operations. “He’s a real good businessman,” said Bobby.
Kimberly is overseeing the sawmill, but she also has other duties related to B Square. Besides her contact with customers, she also oversees the company’s finances and freight operation.
“I love it,” proclaimed Kimberly. “Like my dad said, it’s more of a hobby. You never work a day in your life if you love what you do.”
Getting up to speed on managing the company’s finances has been a challenge. She had little experience or inclination for finances in the past, she noted. “I don’t even like doing my own taxes.” However, Bobby introduced her to the QuickBooks accounting software and began teaching her how to use it. “I jumped in, took tutorial lessons online and looked at a few videos. It was a little bit challenging at first, but I knew my dad needed someone to do it. It was like learning a whole new trade.”
On the other hand, the most rewarding part about working in the business has been being able to work with her father. “I get to talk to my dad five or six times a day,” she said. “I have a close relationship with him, and we’re always available to each other.”
Finding the Right Automation Solutions
Bobby invested in an Automatic In-Line Nailing System from Universal Machinery Sales in the summer of 2018. He bought a second identical nailing machine in 2020 and added a third one earlier this year.
Universal Machinery Sales, based in Indiana and owned and operated by Mona Tracy, is a ‘one stop shop’ for pallet companies — manufacturers of new pallets and wood packaging and pallet recyclers. The company offers its own brand of equipment and also represents other manufacturers. Mona explained her business philosophy, “I work hard to get the right machine to my customers and to ensure its success after delivery. I strive to develop good relationships and provide strong after-sales support.”
Bobby has known Mona since working at Northeast Texas Pallet. “Dealing with Mona, she’s a very good person,” he explained. “She’s very easy to deal with. She’s always available for us. She takes care of business very well…I enjoy dealing with her.”
When it comes to the nailing machines, Shane Wallingford is “Johnny-on-the-spot,” expressed Bobby. “He can troubleshoot a problem over the phone with his eyes closed. He’s that good. He’s top-notch.” Shane Wallingford manufactures the In-Line Nailer for Universal Machinery Sales.
The Universal Automatic In-Line Nailing System assembles pallets with collated nails. It has one nailing gantry, but it nails the top face of one pallet and the bottom face of the next pallet automatically, one after another. Once stringers are loaded into hoppers, they are advanced automatically to the stops. The operator puts the bottom deck boards in place, and the machine nails the bottom face of the pallet. When the nailing gantry retreats, the pallet is automatically flipped, and an operator puts the top deck boards into place. As the nailing gantry returns, it nails the top face of the closest pallet, then the bottom face of the next pallet. The finished pallet automatically advances to the stacker.
The standard system can assemble pallets up to 64×84 inches, including pallets with four stringers. The machine can be equipped with its own optional compressor to supply compressed air to the nailing tools. Universal Machinery can modify or customize the system to meet customer requirements.
Bobby likes the machine because it does not require special maintenance – the operators can service the machine. It features a simple design, is easy to operate and has a fast cycle time.
“It’s good equipment,” commented Bobby. “We’ve been very successful with them. They’re not too expensive, they last a long time, and they run really well.” He decided to add a third machine to increase production. “It cuts costs a little, and it makes a good pallet. It increases production quite a bit.”
Bobby normally has two people operating the nailing machines; they average about 100 pallets per hour. With a third man, they average 135-140 pallets per hour. The number of operators depends on the pallet.
Universal Machinery Sales offers jigs for nailing pallets by hand as well as fully automated nailing machines. The company’s product offerings also include bandsaw and disc-type pallet disassemblers, trim saws and chop saws, band resaws, notching and chamfering machines, and more.
(For more information about Universal Machinery Sales or its products, call (855) 298-8890 or visit www.universalmachinerysales.net.)
Sawing and Lumber Process Review
B Square mainly buys pre-cut pallet stock. The company has a home-built chop saw and a Brewco bandsaw for resawing random length material. The company also has a Morgan double-head notching machine with Econotool cutter heads and just added a second notching machine, a single head, from Universal Machinery Sales.
Besides buying cut stock from his own mill, Bobby buys cut stock from two other mills. He also buys dimension lumber from another provider, mainly low-grade 2×4, 2×8 and 2×12. The material is cut to length on the chop saws and then resawn on the bandsaws.
Bobby also started a small mill nearby about 18 months ago to remanufacture lumber into pallet parts. “I mainly put that in to push production of lumber and be more diversified,” he said. He leased a building and equipped it with some used Morgan chop saws and bandsaws. The mill employs about eight people. All the cut stock production goes to B Square’s pallet plant.
About 12 employees assemble pallets by hand with pneumatic nailing tools. The company uses Bostitch tools and nails supplied by Southern Fasteners. Collated nails are supplied by Legacy Fasteners in Missouri.
The COVID-19 pandemic slowed business down for a while. However, once it picked up again, business has stayed steady or increased. Business has grown in the past 18 months, and Bobby expects the growth to continue in 2022.
Bobby also has added another key employee, Brian Burgess, a former salesman at Northeast Texas Pallet; Brian sells products from the pallet plant and the sawmill and also helps oversee operations at both.
Although Bobby continues to be the company’s primary leader, it is a joint effort between father and daughter. “She’s a big key,” proclaimed Bobby. “Eventually she’ll probably head the whole thing. Right now, it’s good that we work together.” Bobby makes most of the decisions related to the pallet operations, but he confers with Kimberly on decisions about the sawmill to reach a mutual agreement.
Bobby turns 52 this month. Even though Kimberly likely will assume a larger and larger role in managing the business, he has no plans to retire. “I’m pretty sure I’ll keep working, but eventually not so much. I can’t sit at home every day.”
