JACKSON, Nebraska – Reaching a company milestone is important for any business. When it’s a second-generation family business, it means even more. Gomez Pallet just celebrated its 40th anniversary. Started by Antonio (Tony) Gomez in 1983, the company has established a reputation of producing high-quality pallets in its market area. The company reliably serves customers stretching northward to Sioux Falls, South Dakota and as far south as Omaha, Nebraska. Recently, after many years of relying on Viking Champions, the second-generation family business, now run by brothers Saul and Sam, has taken the next step in its growth trajectory by investing in a Viking Turbo 505 SE.
Clawing Up the Ladder to Prosperity
Tony Gomez founded his pallet business four decades ago, spotting opportunity while at his job as a janitor/maintenance person at a local packing house. Every day, he was responsible for managing waste disposal, which often included 50 to 100 pallets. Tony observed that many of these discarded pallets had minor damage, some needing only a simple repair or cleanup.
“My dad noticed that a lot of these pallets were still usable,” Saul stated. “He approached his supervisor with an idea to save the company some money.” Initially met with skepticism, Tony’s persistence paid off when he was eventually invited to present his proposal.
“After clocking out one day, my father told his boss that instead of throwing these pallets away, he could take them, repair them and sell them back to the company at a reduced cost,” he continued. After determining the current price, the company was paying for pallets, his supervisor offered to buy the repaired pallets from Antonio for half that price. Antonio agreed, marking the genesis of what would become a multi-generational enterprise.
However, there was one condition. “The supervisor told him that his new venture shouldn’t interfere with his regular job duties. My dad was a valued employee, and they didn’t want his performance to drop,” said Saul.
True to his word, Tony began his pallet repairs after his regular shifts. Using his pickup truck, he’d transport the pallets to his home, fix them using boards and nails purchased from a local lumber yard, and return the mended pallets to the packing house.
“He initially operated out of our garage,” Saul continued, “but as demand grew, he moved to a rented space, and then another, before finally settling at the current location – a former John Deer facility.” Gomez Pallet eventually bought the premises, and the business has been thriving there ever since.
Now 78 years old, Antonio remains the president of the company. He is no longer actively involved in day-to-day operations but does check in with the accountant to make sure the numbers look solid, which is generally not an issue, Saul chuckled. Tony is writing a book – a memoir of his life. In the book, he wrote that “he was an immigrant from Mexico who clawed his way up the ladder.”
Adapting to a Shifting Pallet Business Landscape
Saul Gomez and his brother Sam are the second-generation operators of the business that they jointly own with their father, Tony. A testament to its laser customer focus, Gomez Pallet typically aims to have five ready-to-go loads for each of its main accounts, explained Sam. Previously, orders would come in, and they would scramble to complete them. Having too frequently weathered that experience, the company has taken steps to ensure a more proactive approach and improve production efficiency by having pallets loaded and ready to roll. “We are always planning ahead,” Sam said. “We’re fortunate enough with cash flow to maintain a good inventory of finished pallets. It just gives us better peace of mind.”
As business and demand grows, so does the need for increased production. With two Champion QC306s already in operation, Gomez Pallet partnered with Viking again on its next machine purchase. There were two main considerations in the purchase. The first was to facilitate greater production for increased sales, and the second was to be able to make more pallets without adding labor. “We wanted to increase our production and Turbo 505s are known all over the industry for their durability and dependability; Viking has always provided us outstanding customer support, taking the next step with Viking was an easy decision,” Saul said.
“The Turbo 505 is the industry workhorse and is a great transitional step for Gomez Pallet,” said Randy Dahl, director of sales and marketing for Viking Engineering. “We are pretty conservative with our advertised production rates, maybe too conservative” he said. In the past six months, Viking has been able to visit more customers and watch their operations. “We have seen several customers making well over 2,000 pallets/shift on their 505s, some of them with just two operators” he stated. “It is a testament to the ‘art’ involved in running these machines. While the machine needs to perform, the magic really starts to happen when the operators become familiar with it. That’s what takes you to the next level.”
After placing the order for the Turbo 505, the company built a new 80’ x 100’ steel building to house it, featuring three dock doors. The company also added a new concrete parking lot for added lumber storage. “It was quite a task, and we’re pretty excited to get it running,” Saul stated.
Cat6 cables were run to the new building to support the digital features of the Turbo 505 SE, including Viking’s Smart Data™ system. The brothers are looking forward to being able to monitor production online. “It is going to be amazing to monitor daily outputs, diagnose system issues and improve error recovery,” he said. “It’s going to be a game changer,” added Saul. “We’ve never had anything like that.”
Aside from the newly installed Turbo 505, the company will continue to run its two Viking Champions. The newest Champion QC306 was purchased in 2019, and the older Champion has been running since 2006. “They are good machines,” Saul said, “[Champions] are very flexible, they are not picky about the type of wood you run on them, and they are very low maintenance.”
Gomez Pallet also looks to Viking for supply of their bulk nails. “We like to run Viking nails in our machines, they are cleaner and run well through the machines,” said Saul.
Gomez Pallet still recycles pallets, which was how the company started 40 years ago. “It has been profitable, so we just kept doing it,” Saul reflected. “But we are really focused on new.” He characterized their business as 70% new and 30% recycled. The company also makes wood packaging for industrial accounts.
Building Locally Builds Success
Gomez Pallet serves various industries, including packing houses, food products and pet food manufacturers, in addition to retail and industrial accounts. Many customers have been with Gomez Pallet for over 20 years, one of their larger accounts for over 30 years. The key to success, according to Sam, is forging and maintaining relationships. “The biggest thing is building them locally.” Gomez Pallet has found that as procurement continues to shift to the national level, they can often rely on local relationships to help them retain the account. “The locals will back you up because they know you’re not a fly-by-night, and you’re here to provide service and quality. We know what their business is like, they’re not going to have any issues. Nobody wants a headache.”
Gomez Pallet believes that one of its competitive advantages over other local competitors is on the supply side. Unlike other pallet shops in the area, it purchases its lumber directly from mills and produces its own cut stock. Toward this end, it runs a triple-head Brewer resaw, a Holtec package saw and a Brewer notcher.
“We know that we wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for my dad,” offered Saul. “He’s the reason why we are where we are today, 100%. But the other side is that the business wouldn’t be where it is today without the second generation.” A common denominator for both generations has been machinery from Viking. “Viking is a company you can grow with, from our first Champion to the new Turbo 505 SE, Viking has been by our side helping us to exceed expectations for our expanding customer base.”
Viking Update
Viking has been busy growing and preparing for the future. In addition to launching a new flagship product, Voyager, the company completed a move into a new state-of-the-art facility with three times the manufacturing capacity and a dedicated space for new product development. Viking doubled its head count, focusing on building the manufacturing and service teams. And will build and install machines in 6 different countries this year.
“With the move and COVID behind us, Viking is focused on providing our unmatched service and support, trusted quality and leading innovation,” said Kurt Larsen, company president. “We are reinvesting into the business for better long-term support of our customers. We are dedicated to our strong foundation of building quality machines, supported by unmatched service and the continuous development of new technology.”
Since 1975 Viking has been a global manufacturing leader of stringer pallet nailing machines. In addition to the Turbo 505 SE and Champion nailing machines, Viking also makes the Turbo 606, a 3 operator tandem machine offering quick changeovers and production of 2,000+ pallets/shift; the Express 403, an economic hydraulically driven tandem that produces 1,300+ pallets per shift with just two operators; and their latest machine, Voyager, a high-speed nailer with S3 Board Positioning and dual board hoppers that is designed to produce 2,400+ pallets per shift.
With the pandemic officially in the rearview mirror and the borders open again, Viking is actively connecting with international customers in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and various other countries for field service, new machines, upgrade kits, CE compliance and more. “We want to increase Viking’s presence everywhere stringer pallets are made. We are looking for partners across the globe to represent Viking and to help strengthen the support for our international customers,” explained Larsen.
Viking is also working on the next phase of its customer support tools like the Smart Data™ system, the online parts store, and Viking’s call center. Viking is exploring ways to leverage augmented reality to better serve customers. “This fall, Viking’s call center will offer an immersive video experience with live on-screen collaboration with Viking service technicians to improve machine troubleshooting and diagnosis,” stated Troy Gildersleeve, Viking’s director of service and parts. “With this new technology we will be able to more efficiently determine what is happening to get our customer back up and running more quickly.”
