Universal Pallet Supply Article

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ELKHART, INDIANA – Anyone tour-

ing Universal Pallet Supply for the first

time quickly would realize it is a unique,

highly evolved company. It is powered

by innovation and some of the most ad-

vanced technologies found in many in-

dustries utilizing lean manufacturing

and continuous improvement initiatives.

The ISO-9001-2000-certified com-

pany operates three separate business

units engaged in manufacturing new

pallets, recycling pallets, and pallet and

container management.

The company began operating as Uni-

versal Pallet Supply in January 2008 af-

ter a minority-owned private investment

group purchased the assets of Global

Group Inc. and restructured the busi-

ness.

“Global Group, founded in 1999, was

a pallet company that was doing well,

but they were at a point where they

needed a new management team,” said

Win Linder, 47, chief development of-

ficer for Universal Pallet Supply.

In its first year, Universal Pallet Sup-

ply achieved significant growth despite

the sluggish economy. “We focused on

running with the base that Global Group

had established and expanding upon that

here in the Midwest,” said Charles Raiff,

28, project manager. “We can focus a lot

better now after splitting the company

into separate divisions.”

Sophisticated Pallet

Recycling Operations

Technology is a big part of Universal

Pallet Supply’s success. The company

uses Innovative Data Systems’ Pallet

Track® in both the recycled pallets and

container management divisions. Auto-

mated Machine Systems’ PalMate™is

used in the pallet manufacturing divi-

sion. Both software programs integrate

to provide real-time information for bet-

ter data collection, which leads to more

informed, better decision-making by

Indiana Company Blends Business

Smarts, Sophistication, TechnologyTrace Equipment Supplies Four Machines to Boost Used Lumber Recovery

By April TerreriContributing Author

managers.

“Pallet Track handles data collection

on the floor, sending the data to

PalMate, which is our Enterprise Re-

source Planning (ERP) system,” ex-

plained Jim Honey, director of informa-

tion systems. The PalMate program is

used to perform purchase orders, sched-

uling and shipping functions, added Jim,

who has a bachelor’s degree in informa-

tion management systems and holds six

certifications as a Microsoft Certified

Professional.

“We are still in the implementation

stage,” added Rick Willis, general man-

ager of the new pallets division. “Our

goal is to be paperless out on the floor.

We have a series of (Innovative Data

Systems) kiosks throughout the floor

that help us track inputs, outputs, costs,

labor, and yields. We track every point

along the production process, which

helps us be more efficient.” Rick has a

bachelor’s degree in management and

marketing.

The company operates three plants for

new pallet production, pallet recycling

and container management. All the fa-

cilities are tied into a virtual private net-

work (VPN), and a voice over Internet

protocol (VOIP) is used to communicate

between plants.

Universal Pallet Supply employs

about 180 people. Full-time employees

are eligible for medical, dental and dis-

ability insurance and a 401(k) retirement

plan. The staff includes five full-time

sales representatives and several part-

time sales personnel.

Universal Pallet Supply operates a

fleet of 10 semi-trailer trucks, two 28-

foot-long straight trucks, 150 van trail-

ers and several flatbed trailers, and it

employs 10 full-time drivers.

High-Volume Pallet Dismantling

Universal Pallet Supply serves a wide

range of manufacturing industries, in-

cluding automotive, construction, and

groceries, within a radius of about 250

miles. It supplies pallets to Fortune 500

customers that require four to 11 trailer-

loads per week and other customers that

buy as few as 100 pallets a month.

Universal Pallet has one man running each of the four Run-A-Gade bandsaw

dismantling machines, which are set up in tandem and supplied by Trace Equipment.

BUYERS’ GUIDE / JANUARY 2009 11YOUR #1 MACHINERY AND INFORMATION SOURCE

New pallets account for about 60% of

the company’s revenues, followed by re-

cycled pallets at 25% and container

management, 15%.

“Our plant is set up for handling

large-volume runs, but we also operate

individual lines that can handle custom

units up to any size,” said Charles, who

is also responsible for the company’s

product quality and safety programs.

Recycled Pallets Division

One of the unusual aspects of the

company’s pallet recycling operations is

that it runs four Run-A-Gade bandsaws

dismantling machines, which were sup-

plied by Trace Equipment, set up in tan-

dem for improved efficiency.

“We put a lot of thought into this sys-

tem,” said Win. “We looked at a lot of

other manufacturers before we decided

that Run-A-Gade machines were the

best out there for our application. Mona

Tracy (of Trace Equipment) visited us

several times and showed us a lot of

different applications, and she helped us

design some of the work flow and come

up with this configuration.”

There are some other pallet recycling

businesses that are operating two Run-

A-Gade machines in tandem, according

to Win, but none is running four. “We

knew we wanted to run four saws,” he

said. “The only way to do that was to run

them in tandem on one line or run two

saws in tandem with each other and run

two separate lines.”

The company wanted to maximize

production of recycled lumber and do it

Viking Turbo 505 at Universal Pallet Supply, Inc.

(Also pictured, Linc Systems Fox Jet Pro pallet digital printer – center)


in as compact a space as possible, so

they decided this innovative configura-

tion made the most sense. “Mona was

very excited when we told her we wanted

to give this idea a try,” Win said.

The Run-A-Gade machines were at-

tractive to Universal Pallet Supply for

several reasons. “They use a heavier

gauge sheet metal as well as a heavier

duty 15 horsepower, three-phase motor

for more power,” explained Win. “The

larger, 25-foot-4-inch blade cuts better

for us and lasts longer than the standard

blades we use.” The machine runs the

blade at a speed of 4,500 feet per minute

and can dismantle pallets up to 60

inches. “The conveyor levers and the

pneumatic blade tensioner are right in

front and are easily accessible, so the

machine is very ergonomically designed

and operator friendly,” Win added.

Trace Equipment

Mona was very helpful in explaining

the pros and cons of various equipment

he was researching, according to Win,

whether or not she represented the manu-

facturer. “She set up meetings for me at

some of her other customers so I could

see this equipment in action. From the

moment I saw how they operated, I knew

this was the way to go.” He was particu-

larly impressed by the rugged construc-

tion and durability of the Run-A-Gade

machines.

Working with Mona and her business

was a successful experience for Univer-

sal Pallet Supply, and the company plans

to seek out her assistance and advice as it

continues to grow. “She has been in this

industry for a number of years, and she is

extremely knowledgeable about the ma-

chinery,” noted Win. “She is also very

choosy about which machines she will

sell.”

In the company’s pallet recycling op-

erations, there are four docks to receive

inbound pallets. At a staging area, pallets

go through an initial sort, and they are

designated either for grinding or recy-

cling operations. Pallets to be recycled

are loaded onto a 250-foot oval conveyor

system.

“We developed this design in conjunc-

tion with AMS,” explained Win. The cir-

cular conveyor system enables the com-

pany to sort pallets quickly while mini-

mizing labor. Eight people work in this

area, including the forklift operator.

Workers are on both sides of the con-

veyor, sorting out the 30-60 sizes the

company stocks. The pallets are pulled

off the conveyor, sorted by size and

grade, and stacked by hand. Ready-to-go

pallets are put into inventory and the

other pallets are moved to pallet repair or

lumber recovery operations.

The pallet tear-down area is about 20

feet away. As the pallets are dismantled

on the Run-A-Gade machines, the deck

boards fall down a chute onto a 24-inch

wide conveyor belt.

“The standard on that system is an 18-

inch-wide belt, but we had it widened

because we knew we would be running

four saws down the same system,” said

Win. “Trace Equipment had these cus-

tom built for us.” Since the machines are

in tandem, the chutes dropping the used

lumber onto the conveyor are staggered

so all the boards are not dumped onto the

conveyor at one place.

The used deck boards are conveyed to

a 12-foot rotating round table. Workers

sort through the lumber and place the

material into two Pallet Repair Systems

trim saws to be cut to length; the trim

saws are designed to cut four or five dif-

ferent lengths. The finished material is

removed from the outfeed, stacked,

banded and put into inventory.


Pallet Repair Line

The Run-A-Gade operators toss the

stringers onto a different conveyor on

the other side of the machine; this con-

veyor moves in the opposite direction

and carries the used stringers to another

area to be recycled.

Universal Pallet Supply has one man

running each Run-A-Gade. “Each of our

four operators can tear down 300 to 450

pallets during a shift,” reported Win.

Pallets to be repaired are brought in

stacks to work stations located on both

sides of a 140-foot conveyor. About

seven to 10 people work at these sta-

tions, repairing pallets. As they com-

plete a pallet, they tag it with a bar code

and place it onto the conveyor. As the

pallets move down the line, the bar

codes are scanned automatically. At the

end of the line is a worker and five AMS

high-speed automatic stackers; he per-

forms a quality inspection of each pallet

and pushes it to the infeed of the appro-

priate stacker.

On this repair line, each worker pro-

duces about 300 to 400 pallets per shift.

The bar codes, scanner and information

system capture production data. “We

can document the grades and the number

of pallets repaired during any given

day,” said Win.

The pallet recycling division operates

in a 70,000-square-foot building. “In the

course of about 12 months, our recy-

cling has doubled,” Win reported. “This

significant growth was the result of our

focusing on a segment of the business

that Global Group had been ignoring for

quite some time.” The company recycles

about 4,000 pallets daily.

The company receives 60-70 trailer-

loads of scrap per week. Wood that can-

not be used for pallets is processed into

mulch with a Vermeer grinder; mulch

production is about 10 trailer-loads per

week.

New Pallets Division

The plant housing the pallet manufac-

turing operations is about 127,000

square feet. This division produces

about 20,000 pallets per day.

The company buys hardwood cants in

a variety of sizes as well as rough lum-

ber, such as kiln-dried Southern yellow

pine. Cants range from 2-½ inches to 5-

½ inches and up to 16 feet long.

Brewer Cut-Up Lines,

Four Viking Nailers

Universal Pallet Supply operates a

cut-up area with three lines of equip-

ment; each cut-up line consists of a

Brewer Inc.-Golden Eagle multi-trim

saw, gang saw and bandsaw.

“We use our PalMate software to help

us determine what size deck boards or

stringers to get out of each cant,” said

Rick. “This helps us minimize waste

material. If we are working with an 84-

inch cant, the trim saw might cut that

into a 44-inch section and a 40-inch

piece to best utilize the material for run-

ners.”

The cants, now cut to the correct

length, travel via live rollers to the gang

saw to be resawn into deck boards or

stringers. The finished lumber feeds out

to a conveyor, and workers along the

conveyor sort the material, pulling and

stacking new deck boards and stringers.

Any deck boards or stringers that are

culled are placed on a belt and sent to the

Innovative Data Systems Computer Kiosk running Pallet Track® are located at the

end of a Viking Turbo 505. This computer station is used for floor data colection,

and the information is sent and processed with AMS PalMate ERP system.

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Brewer bandsaw to be resawn into a us-

able board. “This operation means we

have very little scrap,” said Rick.

Scrap wood from the cut-up opera-

tions is collected by conveyors and even-

tually feeds into a Cresswood horizontal

grinder. The wood grindings and saw-

dust are picked up by one of two collec-

tion system, a new Imperial and a Koger

Air, and blown into trailer vans. “This

byproduct is sold to other companies for

animal bedding, landscape mulch,

biofuel and pellets,” Rick explained.

Pallet assembly operations are di-

vided into two areas: automated assem-

bly and custom assembly. For auto-

mated pallet assembly, Universal Pallet

Supply is equipped with four Viking

505 Turbo nailing machines. “We can

build anything up to a 74-inch pallet

here in our automated assembly area,”

Rick said. “We can also heat-treat them

after assembly in our Kiln-Direct heat-

treater.”

In the custom pallet area, pallets are

assembled by hand with Senco pneu-

matic nailing tools. About nine pairs of

employees work in this area, building

pallets by hand. They assemble odd-size

pallets as well as small orders of standard

pallets.

Universal Pallet Supply relies on Mid

Continent nail for bulk nails for the Vi-

king machines and buys collated nails

from Senco.

“We can build anything that will fit

onto the back of a truck,” Rick said. Uni-

versal Pallet Supply also has the ability

to paint, stencil or tag pallets with a com-

pany logo, name, job number or other

identifying features.

Brewer BR4000 Notcher (foreground): Brewer Gang Saw mill #2 (background).


Container Management Division

Container management operations are

housed in a 30,000-square-foot building.

The focus of the division is providing

reverse logistics services and a closed

loop program for customers who pur-

chase heavy-duty pallets. “This is a spe-

cial program for customers who want to

use pallets multiple times,” Charles ex-

plained. “Many times people buy pallets

based on cost, but they don’t consider

reusing them to keep their costs down.”

For these customers, Universal Pallet

Supply retrieves the pallets from compa-

nies that receive them under load. “We

pick up the pallets from our customers’

end-users and bring them here,” said

Charles. Universal Pallet Supply person-

nel inspect the used pallets. “If a pallet is

still in good condition, we place it back

into the loop,” said Charles. “If it needs

repairs, we repair it,” and the pallet is

put back into service. “It is a very green

and efficient system.”

Representatives of Universal Pallet

Supply visit customer locations regularly

to track their inventory of pallets. For

some customers that are located a dis-

tance from Elkhart, Universal Pallet Sup-

ply has its own employees working at the

customer’s facilities to manage pallets.

The company also uses a high-tech ap-

proach to tracking pallet inventories for

some customers. “We have also started

using Internet-based technology with

cameras at some of our customers’ facili-

ties so we can log on at any time to check

inventory levels,” Charles explained.

A special component of the

PalletTrack software also helps the com-

pany keep track of inventories.

Progress, Vision for Future Growth

The management team at Universal

Pallet Supply is proud of its ISO-9001-

2000 certification. “We are one of the

few pallet manufacturers nationwide and

in our region with this certification,

which is pretty much unheard of in this

industry,” said Charles.

“What this means for our customers is

that we work within a quality manage-

ment system,” he said. “We looked at the

standards set forth by the National

Wooden Pallet & Container Association,

and we went above and beyond those

standards in setting up our own internal

quality standards manual.”

In order to keep growing, the company

hired several sales representatives who live

some distance away and work off-site.

The company likely will acquire other

businesses as it continues to grow, accord-

ing to Win. How soon? “The market will

give us that answer,” Win said. The com-

pany expects to make its first acquisition

perhaps as early as the spring of 2009 and

maybe another by the end of 2009.

“We plan to grow through acquisition

if we can find the right companies to work

with,” said Win. “If we can’t accomplish

this through acquisition, we will purchase

property, buy the equipment, and develop

the customer base. This is not new to us

because we have a lot of collective experi-

ence in our group of leaders.”

“We have been on a very aggressive

growth pattern but the financial market

and economy have changed,” Win ac-

knowledged, “so we are taking care of

what we have now until the economy

recovers. We have a number of key

agreements in place, and when it makes

sense, we will move forward.”

For more information, contact Win at Uni-

versal Pallet Supply, (574) 293-1949 or e-

mail [email protected]. PE

PE

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