way out west - western pallet association · of new, used and reconditioned pallets. both...

Western Pallet Association

Please direct inquiries about the

WPA to David Sweitzer,

P.O. Box 1095, Camas, WA

98607

Ph. 360 335-0208

Email:

[email protected]

Website:

www.westernpallet.org

Way Out West The Newsle t ter for Members of the Western Pal let Associa t ion

JULY 2010

Executive

Kathleen Dietrich President

Ryan Stearns VP

Tom Worthen Sec/Treas

Dave Sweitzer Exec. VP.

Greg Vipond Past Pres.

Directors

Kelly Bennion

Rajinder Brar

Ken Conklin

Mike Doyle

Mark Garnett

Stephan Harms

Pat Sherry

Tom Thayer

Associate Directors

Jeff Calavan

Ian Carter

Dale Ragel

Jim Whiteside

Tye Winsor

Don Halstead

Loscam Sale May Stimulate Chinese Pooling

Loscam is the first major overseas ac-

quisition by China Merchants Group outside of the Asia region. Currently, the pallet hiring sector in China is still in an infancy stage, commented the CMG re-lease. “With the development and mod-ernization of the retail sector and supply chain management,” the release stated, “as well as the continuous and further implementation of the national pallet standardization policy, this sector pos-sesses an enormous growth potential.”

CMG believes that the pallet pooling sector possess an excellent growth out-look, and is also expected to create strong synergies with the existing port & logistics business of CMG. “Through the acquisition of Loscam, CMG will benefit from the Company’s vast management experience and extensive client network in the pallet pooling sector,” the CMG release stated.

Loscam Chief Executive Officer Mark Daniel said that it was an extremely positive outcome for Loscam, with the company set to benefit from the change. “We are all extremely excited about the opportunities that the new ownership will bring to Loscam,” said Mr Daniel.

Loscam, like CHEP, was established in 1946.

Australian-based Loscam has been sold to Hong Kong based, People’s Republic of China state-owned China Merchants Group, in a move that could help further stimulate the growth of pallet pooling in China.

The sale was announced earlier this month. Loscam has long been the en-trenched number 2 provider in Australia after CHEP, the Avis of Australian pallet rental, as it were. Loscam, in addition, has in recent years established itself as a market leader in a number of emerging market south Asian countries as Thai-land, Indonesia, Singapore, the Philip-pines, Hong Kong, Vietnam, and Malay-sia as well as establishing a presence in China.

President of China Merchants Group Dr Fu Yuning said the acquisition was a sig-nificant landmark for the Group.

“Through our broad range of business ventures in China and Hong Kong, I am sure we will bring extensive China knowl-edge to Loscam. The acquisition will also further extend the capabilities of China Merchants Group existing supply chain infrastructure and services business and enhance and optimise our service offer-ings” said Dr Fu.

WAY OUT WEST JULY 2010

Upcoming Events 9/19—9/22/2010 Material Handling & Logistics Conference “Supply Chain Reset” Contact information (262) 860-6546

http://www.mhc2010.com/index.cfm 9/30—10/01/2010 FEFPEB European Pallet Congress. Brussels, Belgium. Email-

[email protected] or visit http://www.fefpeb.eu/congress/registration

Jaspinder S. Brar

Vice-President Advance Lumber Remanufacturing

www.theadvancegroup.net

E-mail: [email protected] Phone: 604-580-4918

Fax: 604-580-4998

10/31—10/03/2010 PACK EXPO and Reusable Packaging Association Annual Meeting, Chi-

cago, IL. For more information visit www.packexpo.com www.choosereusables.org


WPA Welcomes American Income Life as New Member WPA is pleased to welcome Chris Paskewich of Ameri-can Income Life as a new member. Chris can be reached at AIL’s Portland, Oregon of-fice. American Income Life 1125 SE Madison Suite 204 Portland, OR 97214 Ph: (503)504-8903 Fax: (503)968-1818 Web: www.ailife.com Email: [email protected] (No sponsor )

business contacts know about WPA and invite them to join. You can refer them to the WPA website, www.westernpallet.org and the online membership application, or contact the office and a letter and infor-mation/application brochure will be mailed or emailed to them with your name as the referrer. When they join and list you as their . referral/sponsor, you’ll be automatically entered in the contest. Best of luck!

WPA Annual Membership Contest

For several years, WPA has held an annual membership contest, and the awards presenta-tion at the Annual Meeting is always one of the meeting highlights. At the meeting, awards are given to the members sponsoring the most new WPA members since the previous annual meet-ing. The next annual meeting is scheduled for Janu-ary 15-18, 2011 in Rancho Mirage, CA. Let your


WPA Welcomes Tony Butterfield

of Weyerhaeuser

The WPA is pleased to welcome Tony Butterfield as the new representative from Weyerhaeuser for the pallet industry. Prior to the recent move, Tony had been involved in the grade lumber side of Weyerhaeuser’s hardwood business, selling to businesses in such areas as furniture manufacturing, cabi-

nets, and flooring.

Tony has been in the hardwood business for 17 years, the last 13 of them with Weyer-haeuser. He started off working for Sauder

Industries in hardwood distribution.

Originally hailing from California, Tony has also lived in Colorado, and worked as a Peace Corps volunteer in North Africa from 1991-94. While in Tunisia he worked on an urban rede-velopment project to introduce alternative building products to local construction, includ-ing items such as compressed earth/clay

blocks.

“I didn’t realize how big the pallet industry is,”

Tony offered. “The volume is amazing.”

Other things that have caught Tony’s attention

- he has found pallet people to be very re-

spectful, and very mindful of how they must

work to ensure pallets are a viable solution for

the future. He has found the pallet industry to

be very ‘in-depth.”

“With pallets it is a totally different customer base,’ Tony said, “and I’m looking forward to meeting everyone over the next few months,

as well as at the Annual Meeting.”

Tony Butterfield can be reached at:

Weyerhaeuser Hardwoods 9205 SW Gemini Dr, Ste. C Beaverton, OR 97008 800-553-5345 011-503-277-2614 direct 011-503-709-7102 cell 011-503-277-2677 fax

iGPS Announces Agreement with Sunny Delight Beverages Co. Intelligent Global Pooling Systems (iGPS Com-pany, LLC) has announced that Sunny Delight Bev-erages Co. will begin shipping its products through-out the U.S. on iGPS’ all-plastic pallets with em-bedded RFID tags, commencing immedi-ately. Sunny Delight produces and markets such brands as SunnyD®. “At Sunny Delight, we regard sustainability as a strategic imperative, and iGPS’ all-plastic pallets will further help us to meet our objective for contin-ual sustainability improvements,” said Ellen Iobst, Senior Vice President of Manufacturing and Tech-nology. ”The lighter weight of iGPS’ pallet reduces fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions.” “Sunny Delight is a great success story and we’re excited to begin working together,” said Bob Moore, Chairman and CEO of iGPS. ”As two com-panies committed to environmental responsibility, I’m confident that this will be a great partnership.” In just three years of operation, iGPS states that it has revolutionized the way goods are being shipped throughout the North American supply chain, pointing out that its 100 percent recyclable pallets are up to 30 percent lighter than competing wood pallets, and they do not absorb liquids, which can be an issue in the cross-contamination of food.

Will Rough Handling Be Good for Pallets in the Future?

While rough handling of pallets is rarely considered a positive attribute, it may become all that and more in the future. Forces exerted upon RFID chips in pallets may help reenergize sensors over the long haul. Harsh environments, including extreme temperature changes, vibration and abrasion might all allow sensors to harvest energy, thus prolonging their useful life in durable pallets. Read more at http:packagingrevolution.net/rfid-damage


* Training is the very first step before starting any job or assignment. * A clean workplace is a safe workplace. For that reason, housekeeping and organization are critical to maintaining a safe environment. * Enforcing the safety rules is an important part of his managers’ daily routines. “It’s better that we spend time retraining and even disciplining a team member than to spend time in the hospital because

of an avoidable accident,” Delgado says.

According to Hyatt, Delgado’s attention to detail has not only created a safe working environment, it’s also led to a productive and successful facility. “Every September, we give out a best-in-class award to one of our managers based on their quality scores, accident free days, employee retention and execution of plan,” says Hyatt. “Antonio has won that award two years in a row, and he’s on track to

win it again this fall.”

Millwood Incorporated is a worldwide industry leader and innovator of unit load and packaging systems, materials and services as well as a leading supplier of new, used and reconditioned pallets. Both small-to-midsize businesses and Fortune 500 companies have relied on Millwood’s pallet management exper-tise, material handling solutions and logistics ser-vices to provide strategic sourcing initiatives for over

40 years.

SOURCE: Millwood, Inc.

Precision Pallet is Now a Certified

GSA Contractor

With the completion of the process associated with obtaining a U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Contract, Pennsylvania’s Precision Pallets is now a certified GSA contractor. Excited about this opportunity to broaden its clientele, Precision Pallets co-founder Tim Whetsell said, “This contract regis-tration with GSA is very important to Precision Pal-lets because it will allow us to bid on government contracts that other manufacturers cannot and

should lead to many new orders.”

Read the complete story at

http://packagingrevolution.net/precision/

.

CHEP Improves Damage Inspection Scanning with Reflex Array Sensor CHEP is employing Reflex array sensors by Sick to improve its pallet inspection at a CHEP depot in Belgium. To read more,visit http://packagingrevolution.net/sick/

Pallet Plant Achieves Safety Milestone

Above all else, safety first! That kind of thinking has resulted in 1064 accident free days among the 52 team members working at Millwood, Inc.’s pallet plant in Hamilton, Ohio. “The last OSHA reportable accident was on Feb-ruary 9, 2006,” says Frank Hyatt, human re-sources manager and chaplain. “Our Milwaukee plant comes closest to that record with a 3-year history of accident free days.” Plant manager Antonio Delgado attributes his plant’s success to a simple approach. “We stress that safety is a full-time job and not a part-time practice,” he says. “I remind my team members that safety doesn’t take break time, and that short-cuts that increase the chance of an injury aren’t worth the savings.” Delgado keeps three principles top of mind in his plant:

WAY OUT WEST

Steel Pallet Systems Announces

New Product

Steel Pallet Systems has recently introduced its ‘Lightweight, Extra Strong, All Steel Bailey Pal-let™. Made from high quality galvanized steel un-der 1 mm thick, the pallet has been lab tested to compression failure at 12.5 tonnes, according to Alec Bailey, Managing Director, Steel Pallet Sys-

tems Pty Ltd.

PAGE 6 WAY OUT WEST

It has passed the most difficult test, that of rack-ing performance. “Using cardboard thin cold rolled steel it is lightweight and depending on size and purpose, weighs under 20 kg up to 26 kg,” he said. “The galvanized finish allows rust free

performance for many years, even decades.”

“But lets face it,” commented Alec. “Steel was always too heavy and usually welded, thus ex-pensive. A big price gap existed between wood and plastic (pallets). This pallet is designed to fill that gap.” To further ensure longevity and viabil-ity, the pallet is riveted, not welded, so unlike oth-ers, it is designed to be easily repairable. And of course, he added, steel has a value for recycling

when the pallet is no longer repairable.

Read the complete story at http/packagingrevolution.net/steel or visit Steel Pallet Systems at http://www.steelpalletsystems.com


Rental Pallet Margin Squeeze?

Analysts from financial company Macquarie say that competition from plastic pallet rental company iGPS will continue to put pressure on margins, according to a newspaper report. Macquarie feels that margins from CHEP Americas are not likely expand in line with eco-

nomic recovery.

iGPS has won some high profile CHEP accounts, in-cluding PepsiCo and ConAgra. With major competition from the plastic pallet provider in the U.S. market, CHEP will be less likely to pass along labor and lumber

price increases, according to Macquarie.

In light of competition in the U.S. and a soft Euro-pean economy in such CHEP strongholds as Spain and the U.K., Macquarie has cut next year’s earn-ings-per-share forecasts for Brambles by 12.3 per cent, with expectations for 2012 even weaker, down

16.8 per cent.

Inbound Logistics Selects CHEP As a Top 50 Green Supply Chain

Partner

Leading industry publication Inbound Logistics has chosen CHEP, the world’s leading pal-let and container pooling com-pany, as one of the Top 50 Green Supply Chain Partners on its G50 list, honoring the company for the second con-secutive year. CHEP and other companies selected, including several CHEP partners, are featured in the June 2010 issue of the magazine. Companies submitted their cre-dentials to Inbound Logistics and were selected based on their measurable, documented investment in green technolo-gies, processes and systems. In addition, industry analysts were asked to provide a list of companies they identified as environmentally friendly.

• You receive your boxes from US-based suppli-

ers. Unfortunately, the value of foreign boxes is much less than a US-made box, and often won’t justify the cost of freight for reuse.

• You receive recurring deliveries of the same

boxes. The more of the same box you get, the more likely the effort of finding those boxes a new home, will pay off.

• You receive a lot of the same size boxes. The

more variety of boxes you get, the harder it is to implement a box reuse program, due to the amount of time/effort required to sort “bad boxes”.

• You are located in a geographically advanta-

geous part of the country. Manufacturers lo-cated in or near major metropolitan cities are good candidates, because the likelihood of find-ing a new home in/near that city are high.

For more information on selling or buying used card-board boxes, visit

http:www.usedcardboardboxes.com.

PAGE 8 WAY OUT WEST JULY 2010

We asked Marty Metro, founder and CEO of

www.usedcardboardboxes.com, a company that

buys and sells used cardboard boxes nationwide,

We asked Marty Metro, founder and CEO of www.usedcardboardboxes.com, a company that buys and sells used cardboard boxes nationwide, to share his thoughts about opportunities for box resale.

According to Marty, your company might be a good candidate for box reuse, if:

• You are a major manufacturer. Unfortunately, most

retailers go through so many sizes and shapes of boxes that it is sometimes difficult to implement a profitable re-use program, on a large scale. Large, big-box retailers are an exception, as there is gen-erally enough volume of a few boxes to make it worthwhile.

• You are a manufacturer of high volume items that

go through a lot of boxes, so implementing a reuse program can pay off quicklyYou receive your manufacturing inputs in corrugated cardboard ship-ping boxes (gaylord boxes, which have a relatively high reuse value versus recycling).

.

Is There a Market for Your Customers’ Used Cardboard Boxes?

way out west - western pallet association · of new, used and reconditioned pallets. both...

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