SURREY, British Columbia – When it comes to how businesses have survived the tumultuous year of 2020, there has likely been no other term used as frequently as “pivot.” Many family restaurants, for example, faced with no customers, quickly switched to takeout. Simultaneously, several local craft breweries and distilleries pivoted from beer to focus on the unquenched public thirst for hand sanitizer. Pallet businesses also found themselves scrambling to shift as some industrial pallet markets dried up, and consumer products markets spiked upward. At the same time, companies had to manage the uncertain threat of COVID-19 to ensure employee safety and business continuity.
For Advance Lumber and Pallet, located in Surrey, British Columbia, celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, pivoting with the times is nothing new. Today, it offers both new and used pallets in the British Columbia market, as well as pallet repair and sorting services for other companies. It also provides cut stock, which was the basis for the company when it began back in 1995.
Diversification Helps Company Respond to Market Changes
Initially, the cut stock business was fueled by the California agriculture pallet sector, but as that market evolved, the company saw the need to diversify. Advance, now with 160 employees, has been recognized in both 2019 and 2020 as one of Canada’s fastest-growing companies. It continues to post double-digit growth year-on-year.
Rajinder Brar, a machinist by trade and an entrepreneur at heart, started Advance Lumber in 1995 with his older son Jas Brar assisting. It was Rajinder’s second entrepreneurial venture. A previous partnership to create a cedar shingle mill had failed to find traction. The second time was the charm. Some leading pallet manufacturers warmly received his cut stock in California, and the company was on its way. Over the following years, however, the California ag pallet market began to change. CHEP was growing its presence, while recycled pallets also began to find favor with the produce industry. On top of that, wood-related tariffs and various iterations of the Softwood Lumber Agreement would again come to make U.S. cut stock markets more challenging to service.
Advance looked to diversify, and pallet sorting and repair was its first addition, which the company began in 2005. It is a business that has continued to expand, addressing the needs of both rental providers and other customer-owned pallet pools. Most recently in 2014, the company also added white wood recycling and new pallet manufacturing.
Hiring Veteran Sales Professional Boosted New Pallet Business
Advance took a phased approach to the introduction of new pallet manufacturing. The first phase was to set up hand nailing stations and go after custom pallet business. “It is easy to forget just how small we started,” recalled Sukhi Brar, who is the son of the founder and a key manager at Advance. Sukhi, along with Jaspinder (Jas), help run the company with their father and company president, Rajinder. Sukhi stated, “We would get excited about an order for 10 pallets and jump up and down if we got one for 100.” The company initially focused on long and narrow pallets, as well as 48x40s. Having a cut-up mill on location and rapid access to material gave the company the ability to fill custom orders rapidly.
The second phase of new pallet expansion involved switching to automated pallet production. Between Phase One and Phase Two, however, the company made a crucial decision. It hired Doug Hunter, a very recently retired pallet sales manager from another pallet manufacturer. Doug, who already had well over three decades of pallet sales experience when he came aboard, was a perfect addition. Relying on his in-depth knowledge of the BC market, the company found itself filling its order book faster than expected.
“It has been a great work relationship, which has turned into great friendship between us and our families,” Sukhi said, speaking of Doug. “We have deep experience in cut stock and repair, but at that time, we were still in the early stages when it came to new pallets. Doug has been an important mentor in accelerating our new pallet business and we owe him a great deal of gratitude for that.”
With new pallet sales growing fast, Advance fast-tracked Phase Two, purchasing some used Viking Champions. The Viking service department trained the Advance operators and maintenance staff. It was a smooth implementation. Thanks to the company’s expert maintenance staff, the used Vikings have performed as required with no issues.
As the business has continued to grow, the company has also recently added a high-speed tandem line, which it declined to discuss in detail, citing competitive reasons. The company buys nails from Crane Point Industrial and Eagle Force Industrial.
Eagle Force Industrial is a new distributor of pneumatic nail tools and coil/bulk fasteners to the pallet and construction industry. Based in Vancouver, Canada, Eagle Force Industrial supplies customers in the Western States and Canada.
Dean Dasovic, owner of Eagle Force Industrial, stated, “Product knowledge and customer service are our most important assets with over 25 years of experience in the wood packaging industry. Eagle Force Industrial is committed to providing the most efficient and cost-effective fastening solutions available by providing high-quality nails directly from the factory to the end-user.” For more information, see the ad on page For more information, see the ad on page 24 or call 604-562-7447.
Pivoting the Season of Uncertainty Caused by COVID-19
When the COVID-19 pandemic first swept North America in March 2020, there was a lot of apprehension regarding exactly how severe the impact would be. Both Jas and Sukhi played critical roles in how Advance pivoted to address the crisis. Jas secured a nearby warehouse location on a short-term lease basis and relocated the third shift to the remote site. Their thinking was that if COVID-19 did hit the main site, the secondary location could keep going while the other location was being cleaned.
Sukhi scrambled to find needed personal protective equipment (PPE). With no stock available from domestic suppliers, he turned offshore, reaching out as a last resort to lumber contacts in Asia. He sourced masks and sanitizer in China, which he expedited by air freight to Vancouver. “There was no negotiation on price,” he recalled. “They told you the price, and that’s what you paid.”
During this time, Sukhi and Doug also were regularly calling customers to assure them that the company was taking all safeguards possible to ensure business continuity and the safety of employees. Behind the scenes, the company scrambled to meet the surge in demand from a major tissue manufacturer and its beverage customers.
Despite the extra costs of operating and urgent customer demand, Advance held its pricing in place. “Everybody was suffering, and everyone was experiencing increased costs,” Jas observed, a move that spoke to the company’s respect for its customers.
Unlike in the United States, Canada did not declare pallet supply to be an essential service at the national level. Sukhi, who is currently CWPCA president and WPA board member, communicated with the provincial government to stress the importance of keeping pallet companies open. Jas reached out to the City of Surrey to engage in a similar conversation.
Celebrating 25 Years of Service
As Advance Lumber and Pallet celebrates 25 years of service with continued growth, Jas and Sukhi attribute the company’s success in large part to the passion and the values held by their parents, Rajinder and Balvir.
“Dad came from a small village in India, and he was raised with traditional Indian principles,” Jas explained. “It was all about values, and those values are simple — respecting your elders, listening before you speak and always speaking the truth.” That set of beliefs informed the company’s approach to business, and helps explain the such strong connections to family-owned pallet businesses on the West Coast.
“Back when dad and I started the company a quarter-century ago, I don’t think we ever imagined it would still be here today,” Jas said. “For me, it was just supposed to be a temporary thing, until university (study) was finished.
“The fact that we’re still here, celebrating 25 years — it’s unbelievable,” he concluded. For a company that has built its success on shrewd and timely pivots, Advance Lumber and Pallet seems well positioned to serve BC pallet customers for years to come.
