The adoption of pallets by the U.S. military greased the flow of supplies and equipment into the Pacific Theatre of the war. It would be remembered as the war where logistics first trumped strategy. Pallets proved to be crucial to the Navy’s “need for speed,”  the island-hopping strategy that enabled military supply lines to rapidly stretch over 5,000 miles. 

After the end of hostilities, pallets and forklifts left in Australia by Americans became the basis for the Commonwealth Handling Equipment Pool. It was later purchased by Brambles Ltd, and CHEP was born. Those hundreds of millions of blue rental pool pallets that circulate today can trace their origins back to the waterfront of Sydney Harbor.

But the story of the wood pallet was much more than the Pacific lifeline, according to Manley Irwin, professor emeritus at the University of New Hampshire. After all, the pallet was already being used by leading manufacturers in the 1930s. This is also a tale of how the U.S. military finally freed itself from chronic inefficiencies and barriers to change. It was a process that paved the way for modernized production and material handling in the 1940s – including the adoption of the pallet. 

“The pallet story of the Navy in WW2 is fairly well known and documented,” Irwin said recently. “The application of pallets and forklift trucks at army arsenals, however, has escaped public notice.” Pallets played a pivotal role in many of the 1,000 modern plants that were funded by the federal Defense Plant Corporation in the early 1940s. The Government-Owned and Privately Operated plants referred to as GOPO’s, turned out to be critical to the war effort. 

Irwin pointed to the example of a munitions GOPO in Kansas City. Documents report how palletization resulted in dramatic productivity gains. Noteworthy to Irwin, the story pertained to production gains rather than those associated with the shipment of goods. 

The GOPOs offered several advantages. They were newly constructed, run by professional private sector managers, and freed of the labor resistance that plagued legacy sites. In fact, inefficient practices had become institutionalized. During the presidency of Woodrow Wilson, Congress had made it illegal for Naval officers to practice scientific management at yards and bases, a practice developed by Frederick Winslow Taylor, famous for introducing time and motion studies. Labor looked at scientific management as the enemy, and the Wilson administration took steps to protect the unionized workers at Navy sites. 

Another important consideration was that new facilities could be built to better accommodate palletized handling. Freed from legacy work rules and out of date facilities, GOPOs could take advantage of the most modern practices available, including the forklift and pallet. Managers from the private sector were already familiar with the technology. For example, the Chicago GOPO that produced torpedoes was managed by the American Can Company.

Irwin noted that the basis for GOPO investments in the 1940s can be traced back to actions taken by the Harding administration in the 1920s, especially by Edwin Denby as U.S. Secretary of the Navy, and Herbert Hoover in his role as Secretary of Commerce. Hoover was a champion of standardization and led a “war on waste.” “Hoover pushed product standardization as a device to eliminate waste and speed production output,“ Irwin noted. “Hoover anticipated Norman Cahners’ pallet standardization program in the ’40s.”  For his part, Denby was an advocate of scientific management. As secretary of the navy, he saw the need to transform the Navy’s dated management practices.

While the story of the pallet in the Pacific Theatre is well known, its role in boosting plant productivity at home is less celebrated. Investment in new plants that were privately managed under the GOPO model, and freed of archaic work rules, helped set the stage for military success. They also served as a precursor to the wide-scale commercial adoption of palletization in the 1950s and beyond.

Manley Irwin taught economics at UNH and is the author of Silent Strategists: Harding, Denby, and the U.S. Navy’s Trans-Pacific Offensive, World War II.

Wood Pallets – Recycled or New?

You have just been tasked with reviewing your company’s existing wood pallet procurement program. Or, your company is just starting to ramp up and now it’s time to choose the most practical pallet for the job. One question that shippers and corporate buyers often ask early in their process is whether new pallets or recycled pallets provide the best solution. 

Spoiler alert!

There isn’t a “one size fits all” answer. It all depends upon your application. Here are some considerations for determining whether new or recycled wood pallets provide the best match for your supply chain needs.

In 2016, 508 million new wood pallets were produced in the United States. Bottom line, if new pallets didn’t make sense for many pallet buyers in the first place, there would be no fresh influx to help sustain the overall pallet pool and no recycled pallets for buyers who prefer them.

Why choose a new wood pallet?

There are a few good reasons why many buyers choose new pallets including: consistency, exact specification, and lack of alternatives in the recycled market. New pallet production allows for highly consistent products. Pallet components, like wood decking and wood stringers, are all of a uniform size with minimal size variation in the manufacturing process. That kind of predictability is required in certain types of automation where uneven deck board height or other dimensional variability could jam a production line and cause costly system downtime. 

Another example of the precision offered by new pallets is through exact deck board placement. This may not be possible with recycled pallets that are typically repaired by hand in several different pallet recycling businesses during their lifespan. By having deck boards that provide support where needed the most you can better optimize the movement of the unit load on the pallet and likely reduce transportation costs.

New wood pallets are typically built by machine to specific requirements. Using industry software such as the Pallet Design System, a pallet is designed that meets the needs of the application in the supply chain in the most efficient way possible.

Also, from a liability standpoint, shippers and receivers alike wish to ensure that their pallets are rated to safely handle the loads they carry. This outcome is more likely when new pallets conform to a specification created in the pallet design software.

Aside from material handling performance, sometimes the decision to use new wood pallets simply comes down to marketing and aesthetics. Bright new wood pallets are more attractive to consumers when they see them on the shopping floor and they can enhance the overall customer experience.

One more reason to use new pallets is that recycled pallets may not be readily available, especially if they are not a standard size wood pallet such as the 48”x40” GMA. If you require a unique sized pallet, especially if larger or smaller than the above mentioned 48×40” GMA, a new pallet could be your best choice.

Will a recycled wood pallet work best?

Recycled wood pallets can be an excellent choice for shipping products through your supply chain. They are, in most cases, easier to source and there are sustainability benefits to using recycled pallets.They are always a lower price than a new wooden pallet of the same specification. A 48”x40” GMA pallet, for example, is available in a range of grades in quality (premium A to standard B). Your local pallet yard will be happy to help you find the pallet that fits your needs at the best price possible. 

As for availability and removal when no longer needed, recycled wood pallets are recovered and refurbished on an ongoing basis by pallet recycling businesses across North America. Typically, there is a ready supply available in the marketplace where and when needed. 

From a customer perspective, the question of what to do with empty pallets is usually not an issue. There is a ready market for empty standard-sized pallets such as the popular 48”x40” GMA.  Because of this demand, local pallet businesses will work with you to remove them from your facility as they accumulate. In some cases, they can even provide trailers to use for loading the surplus pallets.

Another positive attribute of purchasing recycled wood pallets is that you are supporting the circular economy. In today’s corporate environment, C-level executives understand that sustainability practices and policies are an increasingly important part of a more comprehensive plan to create a positive impact on the environment and economy. Keeping pallets in circulation longer with recycling and re-use helps reduce their overall environmental impact further with each additional trip they take. By purchasing recycled wood pallets, you are helping to enhance the overall sustainability of the global supply chain.

Ultimately, when it comes to whether new or recycled are the best choice, it truly depends on your needs. Luckily, those needs vary from company to company. Collectively, they enable the wood pallet system to thrive, providing a highly sustainable solution for your palletization needs.

UPDATE: With the critical shortage of N95 masks across the country and the bulk of the supply going to those at the frontline of the COVID-19 crisis, there now seems to be a viable workaround to re-use the mask after disinfecting. This may prove invaluable to workers in industries that are deemed part of the Critical Infrastructure (like the pallet industry). The following downloadable document from Stanford AIM labs provides further information.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD