Continual change is the name of the game at RB Pallet Service Inc. in Kaukauna, Wisconsin. The pallet manufacturer and recycler has just finished adding a new saw line for processing dense hardwood cants. The Wisconsin pallet maker opted for equipment from Baker Products and a stacker from Automated Industrial Technologies (AIT) provided by Pallet Machinery Group.
Ron Young, owner of RB Pallet, explained, “I just needed more capacity. Our customers were asking for more pallets. So, I added a whole new line.”
Young and his team took a building used to store lumber and converted it into space for another cut line as well as a Viking Turbo 505. The company has doubled its sales since 2019. Young admitted, “We’ve really grown so much. I’m actually trying to hold back. I don’t want to get much bigger.”
A key to the company’s strategy moving forward is more vertical integration and control over its raw material supply. Young explained, “We wanted to be able to produce our own lumber because, during the pandemic, it was hard to get. You couldn’t find cut stock on the street. If you wanted more material, you had to cut it yourself. So that’s pretty much what led us to buy another saw line and add onto our capacity.”
RB Pallet Taps Baker for Cant Processing
Although Baker Products builds sawmills and full scragg mill systems for processing logs into lumber, a large volume of the equipment Baker manufactures is for pallet companies turning cants and boards into trimmed and resawn pallet lumber. The Baker system at RB Pallet starts with a four-strand unscrambler infeed that leads cants into a 5-Head AmbiTrim saw for cutting up to 16’ of material. This saw is the larger version offered by Baker, with 24" saws and 10 hp motors for cutting cants. The AmbiTrim saws have become popular with many pallet operations and are regularly tied to a resaw, notcher, or a combination of those based on a customer’s needs. The R.B. line flows into a Baker 6-Head “C” model resaw with a return conveyor. This Baker system processes cants into either 5.5" or 3.5" decking. It is designed to efficiently cut dense hardwood material. The Baker line feeds into the M2L stacker from AIT. Young stated, “By diversifying with multiple vendors, I think we’ve, got a great line that works awesome together.”
Ron Young described the line, “Baker set me up with a multi-trim saw and then the whole accumulation chain and a six-head resaw with the return. It works flawlessly and does what Baker said it would do.”
The existing saw line is still in use and primarily cuts stringers and decking. Why choose Baker for this project? Young explained, “I had a single-head Baker, and I liked how it operated. I’ve dealt with Baker in the past, so I thought let’s give them a try. Also, Baker was competitive on price and was able to get me in line a bit quicker for delivery of the saw.”
One benefit of controlling the sawing process is material dimension consistency. Young stated. “We don’t need it to be perfect, but we do need the material to be very close and consistent in size because it runs through the nailers better that way.”
The Baker line routinely processes 18,000 bdft feet in a 10-hour shift. Young said, “We wanted to add production with minimal impact on our head count. We worked with Baker to design an efficient system.”
Conveyance is a key to reducing manual handling. Young added, “One thing about automation is that it reduces the wear and tear on employees. It can make jobs easier, which also improves employee satisfaction and retention.”
Dealing with the constraints of the building, the Baker line has a 90-degree transfer after the AmbiTrim. Clay Hedrick of Baker Products explained, “Labor savings is critical in designing a system. We built a 90-degree transfer and 3-strand chain infeed to RB’s resaw for this reason.”
Usually, RB Pallet tries to run a full day’s production on one cut size. However, Young suggested that the changeover time is minimal. Each saw head can easily be positioned independently using a lockable saw head positioner. As boards are fed in laterally, these saws cut them individually into shorter pieces all at once.
The installation process was fairly easy, according to Young. He said, “We plugged in the AmbiTrim, and it was pretty easy to get it up and running. Within a day or so, I had everybody trained on the new saw and how to operate it.”
Baker Trim Saw Options and Advancements
With automation and labor efficiency on everyone’s mind, Baker is working on several projects to help with these challenges. Hedrick said, “We’ve started to offer a bypass double notcher that will allow stringers or boards to be cut on the same line so one stacker can be utilized. We have a way to allow 2" x 4" and 2" x 6" material to discharge from our AmbiTrim and feed directly into a high-speed center splitter. The AmbiTrim saw can be set up with a reversing material conveyor, so it can discharge cut boards or cants left or right depending on what the next process might be. We can also tie all the parts together and end up at an automated stacker. A new automated stacker is coming from us at Baker.”
Ron Young’s system (unscrambler infeed and AmbiTrim) has become a very popular machine combination with Baker and its pallet customers for processing cants or S4S lumber of different sizes and lengths. Hedrick stated, “We can accommodate most any need since the trim saw can have 2 to 6 heads and process about any length up to 20’.”
Sometimes a customer doesn’t buy an entire system at once. But as their production requirements change, they add various components over time. “Our machines are designed to work well together, and we can design and build ways to tie everything together that can utilize existing equipment.”
RB Pallet Grows and Transitions
When the Pallet Enterprise last covered RB Pallet in 2020, the company was the ‘combo king’ of their area. But the market has changed. Young explained, “We do very few combos now. Today, we are probably 90% new and 10% combo…Customer demand has changed. The cost of new and combos has become a lot closer in price. And we have just picked up so much more business in the new market.”
Why has the company grown so much? Young complimented others. He said, “Just the hard work of the employees – you know the dedication of my whole team and how hard they work. Also, great suppliers like Baker Products just help us keep running, improving productivity with limited downtime.”
One way the company reduces downtime is through its maintenance approach. Young noted, “We keep a pretty extensive supply of spare parts on hand to limit downtime.”
A core transition philosophy is the company’s focus on its cut-up operations. Young affirmed, “We have really focused on our sawing operations because it is critical to have the ability to produce our own lumber. That way, we are not relying on the market when supply is tight. This focus has broadened our horizons. Now we can control our output, waste and lumber costs more.”
In addition to the new Baker line, the company recently added a used Viking 505 Turbo. The company made this addition to keep up with booming new pallet demand. Young said, “The new side has just exploded for us. It has changed us completely as a company.”
Today, the company has 44 employees and serves customers all over Wisconsin. Employee longevity has been a key to RB Pallet’s quality and consistency. Young admitted, “Our success is largely due to the large number of people who have been with us for a long time. Our average employee tenure right now is around 15 years. Some employees have been here 18-25 years.”
Pallet Recycling Still Important for the Company
When RB Pallet, founded by Ron’s parents, started out, its focus was solely on pallet recycling. New pallets were added as Ron came on board and took over for his dad. He said, “When my parents started the company, we were strictly a repair shop. Now, we are probably 60% new, 40% recycled.”
RB Pallet runs a Pallet Repair Systems repair line that produces 2,000-2,500 pallets per day. Young commented, “Our PRS line is just flawless. It runs every day. It just saves us so much time and labor. Employees don’t have to spend effort transporting or stacking pallets. Finished pallets go down the conveyor and are stacked automatically.”
Changing Market
The pallet market has been booming over the past two years. Young admitted, “We are starting to see some pullbacks in the market. Obviously, with the price of lumber coming down, the price of pallets is dropping too. As a result, the margins aren’t as great as they have been over the past two years.”
But he suggested that overall demand still remains pretty good. And a little slower pace is a welcome change. Young said, “After a pretty furious pace during the pandemic, I now see business volumes leveling off a bit. We are going back to a more normal, less chaotic pace.”
Even though the economy is slowing, the demand for pallets will only drop so much, and Young is bullish on the future. He predicted, “I am not worried about the future. I think it will be a strong market. For companies that work hard and serve customers, the future is bright in this industry.”
