Who's Counting Your Pallets?

Most pallet customers don't spend much time thinking about pallets beyond their price and availability, and it's easy to see why. Things in the pallet world haven't moved much since their widespread introduction during and after WWII. To many, pallets just ship in and then ship out. There didn't seem to be much more to it than that. But it seems there is.

According to Michael Smith, C.O.O. and President of PALNET, one of the leading national suppliers of pallets, "The way a pallet business does business is every bit as important as the pallets themselves."

In a recent interview on the state of the pallet industry, Smith pointed out the lack of standards and accuracy that often permeate the business, one where integrity and honesty can be in short supply. To Smith, the pallet business can be like the "Wild West" dominated by independent local and regional companies whose professionalism doesn't match the needs, systems and expectations of large companies and big box retailers who operate on a corporate level and have needs that are national.

PALNET, the company formed by Smith and industry leaders, all long-time logistics professionals, has set out to change all that. "We built PALNET by combining more than 100 years of shipping and logistic experience which led us to rethink the entire business from the ground up. Keeping what worked and retooling what didn't," according to Smith.

Smith drew on his own experiences and frustrations as a pallet buyer. "What used to bother me most," Smith said, “was the lack of honesty, quality and Integrity and that was the thing we fixed first."

According to Wayne Collier V.P. of Sales and Marketing for PALNET, "From there, we created PALNET around our customers. We asked ourselves what they needed, even those things they didn't know they needed, and created systems and procedures to bring the pallet business into the 21st Century."

A good example is Accu-Count, a PALNET exclusive. Before Accu-Count, companies had to rely on the accuracy, ability and attention span of the guy on the loading dock to tally their pallets. According to Collier, “Often a customer was short counted. That lost revenue that can really add up, especially now when pallets are considered a corporate asset with real and measurable value."

Another PALNET innovation is Accu-Track. A sophisticated system that keeps track of every PALNET pallet movement for the customer so they know exactly their inventory demand and consumption.

PALNET has also addressed another vital issue that has affected a number of companies in the pallet industry, the issue of illegal, undocumented workers. As recent raids have disclosed, some other pallet suppliers have become the target of immigration department investigations which have resulted in wide-spread arrests and indictments.

PALNET is a strict supporter of employee eligibility, using e-verify and other government programs to insure the legality of their employees. According to Smith, “Hiring illegal employees is not only the wrong thing for a pallet supplier to do but it is a breach of security for the companies they service."

It's clear that PALNET has raised the bar and redefined the pallet business in many significant ways. Their goal is to be as professional as the clients they serve. And it looks like they've gone a long way toward accomplishing that goal.

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Irv Weinberg is a writer specializing in green and socially responsible businesses.