Lee Miller is founder and CEO of Miller Wood Products, an international pallet brokerage headquartered in Bel Air, Maryland. Miller’s grandfather launched the family’s pallet business in 1942, and it was reportedly the first company to sell pallets commercially in the United States. Lee started his own company, Miller Wood Products, in 1976. Today, it operates across North America, Central America and Europe. Lee’s two sons are now in the business, representing the fourth generation in the industry. Miller Wood Products celebrates its 50th anniversary in August.
Pallet Enterprise: What is the best piece of business advice you have ever received?
Miller: Make the customer feel like a valued customer. That’s it. You can phrase it a million different ways, but our job is to make them look good.
Pallet Enterprise: What is the key to your company’s longevity?
Miller: Customers just want to be treated like customers. When someone wants something, we don’t say no — we say, “Okay, we’ll figure out how to do it.” If there’s an issue, we get back to them right away and don’t make excuses. We’ve followed customers to Europe, El Salvador, Canada and Mexico. Whatever a customer needs, if it’s legal, we try to help. Seven of our top ten customers have been with us for 25 to 30 years. Two have been with us for over 40 years.
Pallet Enterprise: What is the most important thing you do each day?
Miller: Remain customer focused and address my customers’ needs immediately. When somebody calls us, they always talk to a live person — no voicemail, no automated system. The staff knows all our customers by name and can answer questions on the spot. We also follow up proactively. If a customer normally orders three times a week and hasn’t called, we reach out to make sure nothing fell through the cracks.
Pallet Enterprise: What do pallet buyers get wrong about quality?
Miller: Quality has become a buzzword, but it’s gotten a little out of hand. Some defects have no bearing on a pallet’s integrity or usefulness. If a deck board has a nail split, go look at a park bench — the wood has spread around the fasteners, and those benches are still in great shape. What really matters for automated warehouses is overall length and width tolerances, consistent deck board thickness, proper fasteners, and a well-designed pallet matched to the product. I’ve also seen companies buy recycled pallets that look like garbage and then reject a new pallet because a board is a sixteenth of an inch off. There needs to be a better understanding of what’s actually important.
Pallet Enterprise: After more than 50 years in the industry, what trends, business cycles and patterns stand out to you?
Miller: Everything goes in cycles. Lumber shortages hit, and pallet prices skyrocket; lumber becomes available, and prices go down. It’s a constant dance, and things seem to be in equilibrium maybe three days a year. I’ve also watched the industry automate dramatically. When I started, I’d visit manufacturers in Virginia where men were hand-hammering three four-inch nails into hardwood pallets. Now you can have one person on one end of a machine and pallets come out the other end. That’s been great for quality and output. And interpersonal communication has fallen by the wayside in business generally. That is exactly why we still answer the phone.
Pallet Enterprise: Every year someone says the wooden pallet is dead. Why hasn’t it happened?
Miller: Since my grandfather’s day, someone has always claimed something is going to replace the wooden pallet. It hasn’t happened because wood pallets are priced well, they do the job, and they’re made from readily available material. When customers talk to me about switching to plastic because it lasts longer or is more recyclable, I tell them that for the cost of one plastic pallet I can give them a wooden pallet that will last until the cows come home. Wood is simply the best, least expensive option for most material handling needs.
Pallet Enterprise: What does the industry look like in ten years?
Miller: Much more automation. Right now there are facilities where a log goes in one end and a finished pallet comes out the other. That will only accelerate. I also think there will be a greater focus on recycled pallets, though the industry still needs a clearer standard for what “recycled” actually means. And I think pallet equipment manufacturers are going to develop things that will revolutionize production in ways we can’t fully anticipate yet.
