The most important and frequently ignored aspect of many pallet and lumber businesses is data. While an old school approach has worked for many managers for a while, it is becoming increasingly difficult to run a lean, efficient, responsive company with spreadsheets, paperwork and antiquated software. As the pace of business moves faster, many companies realize the importance of having more information on the cloud. That’s where Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) comes into the equation, and an increasingly popular option for smart pallet companies is Pallet Connect.
Developed by Phil Varley for his pallet company in Canada, the software covers key functionality from lumber procurement to order processing to business management and driver scheduling and much more. Phil Varley, president of Pallet Connect, explained, “A lot of pallet companies are still on paper and running their business from Quickbooks, but at some point, if they want to keep up with the competition and stay ahead, they need to get on an ERP, like Pallet Connect.”
As a cloud-based system, all the data is securely stored on remote servers that can be accessed anywhere in the world using a smartphone, tablet or computer. This allows various employees to access functionality and monitor operations remotely. Varley stated, “Pallet Connect gives real-time data to ensure that you have the latest information. The system is constantly updated and gives the most recent data to various departments.”
Responsive Updates and Changes
The Pallet Enterprise talked with three customers for this article to better understand how Pallet Connect improves their businesses. Jesse Viola is president and CEO of APM Shipping in Deer Park, New York, a pallet recycling company on Long Island that also sells shipping supplies. Tom Worthen is the owner of Wasatch Pallet in Spanish Fork, Utah, and Mark Campbell is the chief operating officer of Treen Box & Pallet in Mifflintown, Pennsylvania. Each customer has a unique story of what they needed and why Pallet Connect has worked for them. They all agreed that Phil Varley and his team have worked to ensure that the software delivers on its promise to make companies run better.
Craig Bezuidenhout, lead software developer for Pallet Connect, said, “We release updates regularly and work to make changes or enhancements based on customer requests as quickly as possible.”
Varley commented, “We appreciate our customers feedback and willingness to work with us to make Pallet Connect better…We haven’t said no to a request yet. That day may come, but we haven’t had that yet.”
New Updates and Features
Pallet Connect is constantly being upgraded with new features. One of the newest features is bar code tracking and tallying from lumber shipments into the production process all the way to the end pallet.
Bezuidenhout explained, “Pallet Connect can track every part of production. Barcodes don’t fundamentally change the way that Pallet Connect works. They make the input a little bit easier. And make lumber tracking more specific to an order.”
Integration with Best Pallet and Best Load allows pallet design schematics and details to be automatically exported to a specific order. This feature saves time in the ordering and management process.
For a full list of Pallet Connect features, visit https://palletconnect.com/new-features-in-the-pallet-connect-app/.
Case Study: Helping a Company Sell More than Just Pallets
APM Shipping needed to upgrade its software and was looking for something nimble that would work with its unique product mix. The company has been using Pallet Connect for about two years now. Jesse Viola, president and CEO of APM Shipping, joined APM Shipping after working in sales in another industry. He recalled, “I wanted to find a system that could integrate all of our different processes into one, whether that’s sales, administration, the warehouse itself, delivery, and so on. We looked at a bunch of different tools.”
Pallet Connect checked all the boxes and enabled APM Shipping to move from using paperwork and spreadsheets to a full-featured, ERP system. Viola said, “Pallet Connect’s staff was ‘hands on’ the whole way. Every step of the way, they answered all of our questions and really, really helped us get it going.”
Besides reducing wasted time, the software enabled better customer service and decision making. Viola explained, “It’s been absolutely amazing in terms of understanding our costs and streamlining our order entry process, pulling up information at any time a customer comes and asks us a question about their account. It’s all right there. It has become the one-stop shop for everything we do across every department.”
The process of learning to use the software also caused the company’s leadership to rethink ways of doing business. “It forced us to put in better processes for things that we had done the same way for so long,” said Viola.
Pallet Connect ERP allows APM Shipping to track production and costs in real time instead of relying on past assumptions. Data is entered by workers in the warehouse who have tablets on their forklifts.
Pallet Connect’s team also adapted the ERP software to enable APM to use it for tracking operations related to sales of shipping supplies. Viola suggested, “I can’t praise what they do enough. Things that took days for us to do manually, it’s a couple of minutes to do in the Pallet Connect system. It changed our business, and it uncovered things that really helped us better understand where we were making money.”
When APM began using the new system, it had about 150 customers. After analyzing data with the Pallet Connect ERP, the company trimmed its customer accounts to 30. “So, we’re delivering to one-fifth of our original customers and making more money with the data that we learned from Pallet Connect,” commented Viola.
Case Study: Improving Customer Service and Responsiveness
At Wasatch Pallet, Tom Worthen already had an ERP system, but he wasn’t satisfied with it.
After connecting with Pallet Connect, he began using the company’s ERP on a trial basis. Worthen called the company weekly to ask Pallet Connect to ‘tweak’ the program. “They were always willing to do it and were just super positive. The changes that they made were really, really good,” remembered Worthen.
A major focus for Worthen is using the software to purchase lumber and manage existing inventory. Pallet Connect’s team worked with Wasatch Pallet to make changes in recurring orders that simplified the lumber procurement process.
As a cloud-based software solution, Pallet Connect enables remote access and control. Worthen stated, “For example I can have our office manager or GM out of the office, and they are able to access pallet connect from outside the office. Pallet Connect makes us even more responsive to customers, which is crucial for top-notch customer service.”
Drivers have access to data on a tablet when they are out of the office. “Maybe he’s delivering a load of pallets and breaks two pallets,” suggested Worthen. The office or the driver can make those adjustments and refresh their tablet to show the changes made before the customer accepts the load. The customer accepts the load on our drivers table, and the driver completes the order all while onsite.
Pallet Connect ERP has helped improve access to customer order information, to track orders for lumber, and to track trailers staged at customer locations.
“Pallet Connect has taken a program, and it’s geared to the pallet industry and simplified our processes,” explained Worthen. “It’s eliminated a lot of steps, simplified the process, from taking an order to doing a bill of lading. What used to take 30 minutes to write up an order, now it takes like two minutes.”
Worthen noted that Pallet Connect is user friendly, which makes it easier to train new personnel and get them up to speed. Pallet Connect ERP has even given Wasatch Pallet the capability to let customers link to the system and submit orders for pallets. “Now we haven’t done that yet, but the capability is there. COVID has had us focused on other things, but we’re getting there.”
Case Study: Optimizing the Delivery and Lumber Procurement Process
Treen Box & Pallet was acquired and came under new ownership in the fall of 2020 with Keith Sheaffer and Mark Freeland assuming the helm. Mark Campbell was subsequently hired as COO. At the beginning of 2021, he began exploring options for ERP software. In September, Sheaffer and Freeland gave the go ahead for Pallet Connect, then customer and pallet data began to be entered into the new system.
Under the previous ownership, Treen Box & Pallet did not have ERP software, and the use of computer systems was limited. Orders were typed up in Word documents, and an accounting program was used mainly for billing. “It was an antiquated system,” described Campbell.
The implementation process was “relatively easy,” said Campbell. “We built it from the ground-up with current data…We met regularly with Pallet Connect staff. They were very responsive and desirous to receive our input.” Implementing the system was a team effort by the Treen staff; they met weekly to check progress. Treen used both its Pallet Connect ERP and its old methods of doing business in parallel for a period of time before transitioning completely to the Pallet Connect system in January.
The Pallet Connect ERP system eliminates duplication and reduces the chance of errors, commented Campbell. “It’s going to allow me to do some better cost accounting.”
“A challenge in the pallet industry is lumber inventory,” added Campbell. With new capabilities of the ERP system being added, incoming bundles of lumber will be tagged with a bar code to capture data so the lumber can be used on a first-in, first-out basis to be fresh. The system will also capture when the lumber is pulled and how it is being milled, cut and sized for each job or order; that data will be captured by forklift drivers with hand-held barcode scanners. In the pallet assembly operations, workers will have access to a computer or tablet to know the next order they will have and the pallet design. Employees also will be able to ‘punch in’ via computer and enter production data for piece-rate compensation.
The Pallet Connect ERP system gives the option of having delivery drivers obtain a signed receipt on a cell phone or tablet. The documentation is integrated with the system so an invoice can go out immediately via email or regular mail. This feature facilitates faster payment and cash flow while reducing person-to-person contact in the order delivery and confirmation process. During the COVID-19 outbreak, this elimination of paper bill of ladings is popular with customers who are promoting social distancing.
Employees have been very receptive to using the new ERP system, admitted Campbell, because they have seen how it has made their work easier by eliminating tasks associated with paperwork and repetitive tasks that leave room for error.
To learn more or schedule a free demo of Pallet Connect, visit https://palletconnect.com/.
