Issue link: http://palletcentral.uberflip.com/i/877664
- 1 - Letter from the Board Chair We have remained dedicated to our mission—to provide an environment for our members to succeed while promoting the wood pallet and wood packaging industry—throughout 2017, and will continue to do so as we progress. It is the active participation and dedication of our members that helps make our association more powerful for all of us. With your continued commitment to NWPCA, we have achieved legislative victories, established new partnerships, grown our presence on a global scale, and raised the profile of the industry overall. We are financially strong, and well positioned to add the necessary staff and programs to keep our industry moving ahead, and to effectively tackle our challenges. It is both a privilege and honor to serve as your Board Chair; and I'm excited to share this summary of our work in this report. In 2017, our Year of Safety, we worked with fire safety experts to develop a section of the fire code on outdoor pallet storage that applies specifically to the wood packaging industry. This fire code section mandates the use of effective safeguarding procedures. To provide the necessary information that facilities will need to comply with the revised requirements, NWPCA is in the process of developing a fire code compliance manual that will be released later this fall. Additionally, an update to the Pallet Design System™ (PDS) has just been released (Version 5.3). This new version is the most advanced structural analysis model for wood pallets to date, with updated prediction values, and advanced features and capabilities. By summer of 2018, we will have added new language support in Spanish, Italian, French and German. Your participation is appreciated and your involvement allows the organization to advance our mission. On behalf of the Board, thank you for your membership and continued support of NWPCA. Sincerely, Shane Thompson WestWind Logistics, LLC NWPCA Board Chair