Issue link: http://palletcentral.uberflip.com/i/1141207
32 PalletCentral • May-June 2019 palletcentral.com Group rather than having a generic system that may or may not be relatable to our specific needs," Braun said. What the October tour visitors will see at Pallet Management Group is a well-organized and sorted inventory of approximately 65,000 heat-treated and nonheat-treated pallets. They will also see a completely automated online, real-time tracking system in the shipping and receiving area. In addition to the company's pallet operations, visitors will see that the company's sister operation, Great Lakes Wood Products, operates at the same site. This company operates three mobile grinders which produce wood mulch for several industries, including landscape, bedding, and energy operations. "Finally, you will find a small but loyal staff, the most junior staff member being with Pallet Management Group for approximately 17 years," Braun said. "Every one of our staff have designated areas of responsibility but are well diversified in their responsibilities. All are capable and accessible to any of our clients, most are certified and can jump in with the forklift staff at any given time, and any of our staff can operate a nail gun." Woodbridge Rounding out the Fall Plant Tour will be Woodbridge Pallet, a full-service wood pallet and container company founded in 1985, and located in Woodbridge, a northwest suburb of Toronto. The company since 1995 has been located in a 110,000 square foot facility. In 2005 the company added a 70,000 square foot facility in Toronto. These two indoor facilities include "20 loading docks and six-plus acres of land for storing, sorting, and transport maneuverability," according to the company. There is also a logistics fleet of four trucks and 70 trailers. This company manufactures new pallets as well as sorting and repairing used pallets. The business covers all customer segments, but the top five areas serviced are the food and grocery sector, beer and liquor, packaging and paper products, building products, and chemical industries. "The business is pretty much split 50/50 between new and used pallets," said Ryan Scobie, president. "Daily we process approximately 35,000 pallets – that would be total pallets inbound and outbound – which on average is 70 to 80 trucks daily. Of that total, the Woodbridge operation manufactures and repairs 20,000 pallets daily. We operate two shifts and have more than 100 employees." On the tour, participants will see an array of equipment used to process both new and used pallets. New pallet equipment includes saws and notchers with stackers, a nailing machine manufactured by a Quebec-based company that can oversize stringer pallets, six manual nailing stations, and various trim saws. The equipment on display for used pallets includes a wood auger for crushing scrap pallets, a high-speed sort line, a 120-foot repair line as well as a full stack paint booth which was designed and manufactured by Woodbridge Pallet. The tour will also include views of five sky hook "sortation stations," 10 repair stations with infeed conveyor and scissor table lifts, five manual repair stations, two band saws, one of which is a Woodbridge pallet design built in conjunction with industrial resources with a double blade saw for removing block pallet connector boards in one pass, and a stringer removal stripper. Asked what visitors will find most interesting and beneficial to see on the tour, Scobie said, "I think they will enjoy the amount of equipment and different processes we have going on all within the same operation. There has been a high focus on safety guarding, so compared to facilities I've visited in the U.S., there will be much more fencing, safety curtains, and safety warning visuals and lights. Our focus is volume and turning inventory quick so they will see how we've tried to maximize that in our operation." PC BUSINESS