Norwich, Ontario—For many pallet companies looking to attract and retain their workforce, automation matters. Wise investments in machinery can lead to fewer workplace strain. Automation can make pallet jobs more accessible and attractive. Likewise, plant investments help with retention. Oxford Pallet & Recyclers has paid a lot of attention to getting plant design and efficiency right as the company has invested about $8 million in its machinery and infrastructure over the last few years.
Oxford Pallet purchased an adjoining 12.5-acre site after outgrowing its facilities over five years ago. Henk Vrugteveen, the company owner, was faced with the same challenge as many business owners. Is there a way to squeeze new equipment inside the existing footprint? Should an addition or additional building be constructed? Or would the best way forward be to move everything into a new, larger building?
Add on or Build Fresh?
At first, Vrugteveen was leaning toward adding another additional building, but when he took stock of material handling flows and how to best optimize them, constructing a new building just made better sense. The operation was moved completely onto the new parcel, with the original property subsequently sold to the Department of Highways.
The decision to build a new plant was made easier thanks to the receipt of government grants – $2 million from the province and $1 million from the federal government.
The process involved a lot of paperwork, site visits, meetings and the development of a five-year plan. The government wanted the company to show how it was going to create additional jobs and increase its lumber purchases. Considering that the company has grown to 90 employees from the 60 who worked there when the project was first planned, it has clearly delivered on its promise.
When we recently caught up with Vrugteveen, the first thing we asked about were the critical lessons he learned from the plant development process. “The main thing I learned was that I was too conservative,” he quipped. “I didn’t build the new plant big enough.” When the last of the scheduled equipment is installed later this year, the new 54,000-square-foot plant will also include a robotic sorting system with vision technology.
The company, launched 23 years ago, had already expanded into a new building in 2007 and subsequently added another 15,000 building prior to purchasing the new property in 2017. The new structure was complete and in operation as of May 2021, after delays resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. While the most recent upgrade has set it up nicely for growth in the near term, the company continues to expand each year, meaning that future expansion projects may once again lie on the horizon.
“We have grown every year since starting our business here in rural Oxford,” Vrugteveen said.
A Change in Career Trajectory
To take a step back, Vrugteveen’s background with pallets began when he was a 15-year-old forklift operator at the Ontario Food Terminal. He became interested in the ebbs and flows of pallets. Over the next few years, he began recovering pallets as a side hustle while working at the family fresh produce business. Then, along with his father, he started Niagara Pallet.
That’s when love changed his career trajectory, however. Michelle, his bride-to-be, lived in Oxford County, about an hour and a half away from Niagara Pallet. Rather than have her relocate, Vrugteveen decided to start a new business in the area – Oxford Pallet, which he started in 1999.
The company is located in Oxford County, approximately two hours southwest of Toronto. The local economy includes a mix of industrial activities, including automotive manufacturing plants and distribution centers, as well as a robust agriculture sector. The company also services customers in the Greater Toronto Area.
Before the new structure was completed, inbound pallets were sorted outside for 12 months of the year. While staff retention is generally not a problem at Oxford Pallet, that particular part of the operation had been the exception. Currently, the sorting process has been moved indoors out of seasonal temperature extremes. And additionally, it will soon be automated. These major changes are expected to improve the turnover in that department.
Customer Cross Docking Services and Upcoming Robotics Installation
The new plant features a large sorting room, featuring 10 dock doors for ease of cross-docking and an uninterrupted inflow of cores. Pallets are unloaded and presorted into repairable, dismantled or wood waste categories. Waste wood pallets are conveyed to a Rotochopper grinder.
The company also provides a dock sweep service for clients. It moves bales of corrugated and stretch wrap material from inbound customer trailers and consolidates them onto designated outbound trailers that it ships to corrugated and plastic recyclers. Oxford Pallets & Recyclers utilizes a fleet of 190 trailers to service customers.
In October 2022, the company is scheduled to install a robotic sorting process, involving two robots and a vision recognition system. The supplier is a local company. “It’s nice to work with a company 15 minutes down the street,” Vrugteveen said. “A great group of people working there, with good engineering skills and knowledge. And we want to support the local economy as much as we can.”
According to Vrugteveen, employees will still be needed to remove corrugated and plastic, but the process will eliminate manual handling during the sorting process.
Rayco Nailing Systems
The plant features a mix of new equipment and existing machinery brought over from the old building. Some of the legacy equipment moved into the new facility includes an Industrial Resources repair line, Baker saws, Smart Products dismantlers, a Rotochopper grinder, a locally constructed heat treatment chamber and three Rayco machines.
Oxford Pallets is looking to install a fourth Rayco soon. “I like the Rayco machine because one person can do 450 pallets a day,” Vrugteveen stated. “I don’t have accounts where they need 5,000 GMAs a week. Over here, a Rayco will build a semi load of pallets and then we switch the jig to the next type. It’s just a good, simple machine for us.” The company currently produces about 2,000 new pallets daily and around 4,000 recycled.
The new facility was designed with material flow in mind. Loads of pallet cores and other recyclables are backed into the sorting room for processing. Repairable pallets are transferred to the repair line, and then to the shipping area. As part of Oxford Pallets’ commitment to quality, all pallets undergo a final quality inspection prior to shipment.
“All of our pallets flow through the quality control area,” Vrugteveen explained. “We have two people doing quality control, grinding nails down, blacking out the HT stamps. Just making sure the pallets are in good condition before being shipped.”
Design for efficient flow was also a consideration for new pallet construction. Cants or cut stock are inducted into the cut room and then moved to the build room where the Raycos are located. New pallets are then transferred to the shipping area.
New Waste Conveyor System
A key feature of the new plant is an $800,000 waste wood conveyor system, also supplied by a local vendor Advanced Millwrites Inc. The conveyor has eliminated the need to move bins and bundles of waste wood, freeing up considerable forklift and operator time for other duties. In addition, forklift traffic within the plant has also been significantly reduced, another positive.
Oxford Pallet performs a weekly maintenance schedule on the conveyor and has found it easy to service. Only a limited amount of spare parts are required, which the company stocks.
Wood waste from the repair room and the cut room is conveyed to the grinding building. The primary breakdown is undertaken with Oxford Pallet’s pre-existing EC 256 Rotochopper, before going to the new inline 400HP Rotochopper hammermill. The two-stage grinding system consistently delivers the sizing Oxford Pallet requires for its animal bedding customers. The product is delivered on Oxford Pallet’s walking floor trailers.
The company also runs two Rotochopper B66s at its Premium Mulch Products subsidiary, located on a 12-acre site in nearby Tillsonburg.
Addressing the Needs of Employees
As part of Oxford Pallet’s commitment to its staff, a chaplain visits every Monday to begin the new week in prayer and a short devotion, along with a coffee and donuts toolbox talk at 7 am. The chaplain arrives at 6:30 a.m. and stays until about 1 pm. The extended visit allows time for employees to connect if they have a concern or need, Vrugteveen explained.
Employees receive a gift card and the day off on their birthday. Oxford Pallet also provides a catered lunch once per month. Starting later this year, the company additionally plans to institute a company pension plan.
Vrugteveen was quick to acknowledge the importance of various company leaders in the success of Oxford Pallet, including Steve Leonard, the general manager; Jody Sandham, the bookkeeper; and Ben Neufeld, the operations manager. Theo Bouwheer, the company’s human resources manager, who will be retiring next May; Koert VanIttersum , sales; and Eric Kok, manager of Premium Mulch Products.
Vrugteveen emphasized the importance of his staff in the continued success of Oxford Pallet. “Our workforce is from here,” he said. “I would never trade the workforce that we have here. Love the community we live in, and the community we work in. Hope to continue growing here.”
The entire team at Oxford Pallet & Recyclers believes in being committed to their community. Henk Vrugteveen and Eric Kok are on the volunteer fire department in Norwich. This is a 24/7 on call position; once the pager goes off, they switch from pallets to emergency response. Vrugteveen said, “This is one way we like to give back to the community.”
As a company with an eye on opportunities to automate while maintaining a strong workplace culture, the future looks very positive for Oxford Pallet & Recyclers.
