PUYALLUP, Washington—Girard Wood Products has been a respected name in the Pacific Northwest for decades, known for its commitment to high-quality products and customer service. Founded in 1961, the company was purchased by John Vipond in 1982, and today is operated by his son Scott Vipond, the second-generation company president.
Based in Puyallup, Washington, with additional Elma, Orting, and Pasco Washington locations, Girard serves customers across the western United States. To better meet the needs of those customers, the company continues to invest in new equipment, including its new Ultimizers optimized cutting systems.
Focused on Customer Success
Scott Vipond explained that the company’s aspirations go beyond simply selling pallets. “Our goal is not necessarily to sell a pallet; it’s to deliver a solution,” Vipond said. “Being more of a partner and watching our customers succeed is what defines us.”
This customer-first philosophy shapes Girard’s approach, from responsive customer interaction to just-in-time deliveries. Girard’s full-time customer service team strives to ensure that each call is answered not just by a human but by a knowledgeable professional who is ready to help clients find quick, practical solutions. This commitment to service is particularly valuable for clients with urgent needs.
“We know that our customers don’t always get a lead time, and they may need pallets tomorrow to keep their plants from shutting down,” commented Dave Loden, sales manager, and a 24-year company veteran. “It is our job to not let that happen.”
To support its customers with efficient deliveries, Girard relies on a company-owned fleet of trucks, enabling the company to meet tight deadlines without being at the mercy of common carrier availability. Girard’s distribution network is bolstered by the company’s four facilities, allowing it to optimize regional coverage to reduce transportation costs and improve responsiveness.
Vertical Integration: Quality Control from Start to Finish
A key differentiator for Girard Wood Products is its attention to lumber sourcing. It relies on long-term vendor relationships and vertical integration to ensure top quality.
“The key to building quality pallets is having quality lumber,” Vipond stressed, emphasizing the importance of enduring partnerships with mills. “We have relationships with some of our suppliers that go back over 45 years,” he said.
The other key ingredient is processing cut stock internally so it can maintain its rigid quality standards. While many competitors rely on third-party suppliers for pre-cut lumber, Girard has made the strategic decision to make its own.
“It provides consistency and quality of our cut stock, and also the ability to cut about every size imaginable,” Vipond noted. “In our operating area, there are very few very large customers, and so we need to be very nimble, both in volume and sizes to service the market. If you rely on purchasing cut stock, you are putting yourself at somebody else’s mercy for both the delivery time and the pricing. So for us, this works.”
Located just over 30 miles west of Olympia, the state capitol, Girard’s Elma facility serves as the engine for raw lumber processing, cutting stock that is distributed to the company’s other locations. The Puyallup site, home to a major manufacturing facility and Girard’s corporate headquarters, focuses on pallet production, while the Orting facility handles crating and pallet repairs. The Pasco plant, Girard’s newest location in southeastern Washington, supports growth in Central and Eastern Washington, enhancing the company’s reach and service capabilities across the region.
These days, the company specializes in new pallet production. Until a few years ago it was a significant regional player in the recycled market, initially through company expansion and then the purchase of multi-location Pallet Services in 2019. Girard subsequently sold its recycled pallet business to 48forty Solutions in 2022 to refocus its resources on the new pallet market. “We were good at recycled,” Vipond reflected, “but we wanted to focus on new pallets as our core business.”
Advanced Machinery Investments: Optimized Production and Consistent Quality
Girard Wood Products continues to make substantial investments in advanced machinery to enhance production efficiency and maintain consistent quality. Vipond is reluctant to single out a particular supplier, diplomatically noting that Girard Wood Products and the pallet industry are blessed by an ecosystem of excellent equipment suppliers.
“We’ve got a lot of great industry suppliers,” Vipond stated. “From a Girard standpoint, we really value all of the companies that are active in the industry and support it.”
The company’s most recent major investment has been in its optimized saw lines from Boring, Oregon-based Ultimizers Inc. “The scanner reads each board and identifies the defects, selecting the optimal cuts for recovery,” Vipond stated. “It ensures we get the most out of every piece of lumber, minimizing waste and increasing yield.”
Ultimizers is designed to enhance the efficiency and precision of pallet lumber cut stock operations. The system begins with high-resolution scanning technology that captures the dimensions and quality of each piece of lumber as it enters the processing line. This detailed data collection ensures that every board is accurately measured and that any imperfections or irregularities are identified early in the process.
Once the lumber is scanned, the Ultimizers system employs sophisticated optimization algorithms to determine the most efficient cutting patterns and automatically cuts the boards. It is a process that helps maximize material usage and minimize trim loss. In addition, the system’s precision ensures that the cut pieces meet exact specifications, enhancing the overall quality and consistency of the final pallet.
Benefits of the Ultimizer included optimized material recovery, precision cut boards, and higher throughput with less labor. The guarding completely surrounds the scanner and lasers to keep operators safe as well as unwanted light out. Large, easy open doors allow convenient access. The company’s decision to go with Ultimizers was based on the supplier’s regional proximity, length of time serving the industry, and testimonials from other Ultimizers customers. According to Vipond, the new optimized cutting lines have already paid dividends.
Beyond the Ultimizers, Girard’s production machinery includes other a range of equipment from other leading vendors, including four Viking 505s, four GBN nailers (a Trailblazer, an Explorer and two Patriots), a Pallet Machinery Group Titan nailer, two high speed Max Board Feet/AIT HY saws, as well as AIT and Pendu stackers, PalMate ERP system at the four company locations, and more. Vipond cited PMG and PRS Group as other crucial relationships. Girard also has two new Cape nailing lines on order that will further boost pallet assembly capacity.
A Team with Deep Experience
Girard Wood Products is a company that has deep employee experience, with many 20-year-plus employees. Asked about the secret to their worker retention, Vipond waxed humble, noting that, like other companies, it faces a degree of “churn” with its newer employees. For the new hires who stick around and become more proficient, however, the job starts to feel more comfortable, and they feel appreciated. “I think that has been the case for our core workforce,” Vipond observed.
Loden, speaking as a 24-year employee himself, noted that benefits such as healthcare, 401(k), and vacation time are highly appreciated. “We have benefits that may not be available elsewhere,” he said. It just shows we go a bit above and beyond as an employer to take care of the employee.”
Leadership in the Industry: A Voice for New Pallets
In addition to overseeing Girard Wood Products, Vipond has taken an active role in industry leadership as a director with the National Wooden Pallet & Container Association (NWPCA). Through his involvement, he aims to be a strong advocate for new pallet production and the unique needs of West Coast producers. “It’s crucial to be a voice for the industry, especially as the market and the business climate continue to change,” he said.
Loden is also active in industry leadership, serving on the board of the Western Pallet Association (WPA) to promote professional standards and represent the interests of West Coast pallet producers. Those volunteer leadership roles collectively help ensure that Girard Wood Products remains connected to broader industry trends and challenges. For a mature company, it can be easy to grow complacent and risk becoming stale. Girard Wood Products, however, through ongoing expansion, investment in equipment and staff, and active association participation, has ensured that it has remained on top of its game.
