Michael Krisher picked up an idea from visiting a customer’s warehouse — an idea for a value-added product. And seeing a market opportunity to manufacture the product led Midland Wood Products to expand into pallet collars.
Pallet collars, assembled from four boards and specialty hardware, can quickly and easily transform a pallet into a bin of varying depth, depending how many collars are used. A collar attaches to the base of the pallet without the need for fasteners, and collars can be similarly stacked on top of each other. When a slip sheet is placed on the top face of the pallet, you have a bin.
Pallet collars are hinged and collapsible — they fold flat — for efficient storage and are expandable. They also can be repaired, recycled and reused. They have been widely used in other countries for many years and have been gaining popularity in the United States because of their versatility and ease of use.
Story Behind Midland’s Growth
Midland Wood Products is a family business, a pallet brokerage business with three generations of family members. It is based in Mascoutah, Illinois, which is about 30 miles southeast of St. Louis. Michael’s parents, Joe and Donna, worked for a pallet brokerage company beginning in 1994 as well as pallet manufacturers and sawmills. They launched their own company in 2003 along with Michael’s sister-in-law, Tina.
Michael worked for an agricultural company, managing river terminals, for 10 years before he joined his parents in the business in 2005. His daughter, Taylor, entered the business in 2017.
Today, Donna continues to be involved as company president. (Joe died in January of this year.) Michael, 51, is the chief executive officer. Tina is the accounts manager and oversees the company’s books, and Taylor does marketing and handles the company’s website.
The company expanded into warehousing and distribution since its inception, and also started producing pallet collars, which was Michael’s idea.
Michael Krisher noticed a pallet collar being used in racking at a customer warehouse around 2007-8 and was intrigued. He studied the design and began researching options for producing something similar.
“I thought it was a good idea,” he recalled. Michael did some research on pallet collars and learned they were only available from a manufacturer overseas. He imported some, looked them over, and began developing equipment to produce them. “It’s a very versatile item for shipping. I recognized the uniqueness right away.”
Midland Wood Products will build pallet collars for any size pallet. The company offers varying sidewall heights and thicknesses for light-duty and heavy-duty applications. Pricing is based on the specifications and quantity.
The company markets pallet collars in all 50 states as well as Canada and Mexico. They can be used both for shipping and warehouse racking. “They take the place of traditional wood crating,” explained Michael.
Exploring the Benefits and Uses of Pallet Collars
The collars help protect products in shipment and are particularly used by businesses that manufacture specialty products, as in the medical industry, that are sensitive and require protection during shipping. Midland Wood Products also has a number of customers in heavy manufacturing that use pallet collars for moving parts and components in intra-plant shipments.
Another application is the produce industry, where pallet collars may be a better choice than a traditional wood bin. Bins take up a lot of room, noted Michael, compared to pallet collars, which can be collapsed for storing and opened up and made into a bin very quickly and easily.
Midland Wood Products has a video on its website that demonstrates how a pallet collar can stand up to punishment from bowling balls rolling around inside the walls of the collar. Another video demonstrates how quickly and easily the collars can be assembled on a pallet.
Midland Wood Products sells pallet collars to end users as well as pallet suppliers; about 80% of sales are to end users and the remaining 20% to pallet suppliers. However, the percentage of sales to pallet suppliers is growing due to the increasing popularity of the collars. The majority of the company’s sales come from business in the Midwest to the East Coast.
Midland Wood Products has no minimum order requirement; customers can order as few as one or a truckload. That makes it attractive to pallet suppliers that may need very small quantities. “They don’t want to stop what they’re doing to build a handful of collars,” observed Michael. “It’s not very efficient.”
The Midland Team designed equipment specifically for cutting the lumber, drilling holes for hinges, and riveting the hardware to the wood components. “We can build them very quickly and pack them very efficiently. It’s appealing to pallet companies that don’t want to make the investment for small orders.”
The company’s pallet collars typically are made from softwood lumber and also plywood and oriented strand board panels. All wood material is heat-treated or kiln-dried to comply with ISPM-15, so all the company’s pallet collars may be used in export shipments. The hardware used for the collars is specialized and is only available from an overseas manufacturer.
For more information on pallet collars, visit the Midland Wood Products website at www.midlandwoodproducts.com or contact the company at info@midlandwoodproducts.com or (800) 621-0792.
