What is Pallet Management?

Pallets help many goods travel around the world. These racks, which usually are wooden but sometimes are made of metal or plastic, help secure stacks of merchandise for shipping purposes. Pallet management is an important aspect of this process because it allows for these flat shipping structures to be picked up, repaired if needed, then sent off to companies who need them. This process helps save time and money, and it actually saves trees in the process.

Many companies receive goods on a shipping pallet but do not have the room to store them after they have been unloaded. These large, square racks take up a lot of warehouse space and often can be a pain to deal with. Companies that do a lot of shipping often do not have the room to store a great number of pallets. A pallet management company handles all of the details of pallets so that other companies can focus on doing business.

The first step in pallet management is removing used pallets from a business. Many times, a pallet company is hired to handle this so the business with the pallets doesn't have to worry about them. The pallet professionals set a schedule to arrive regularly so that the surplus of pallets never gets too large. The excess pallets are loaded quickly onto a truck, so as not to interfere with the client's daily business. Depending on the client, a pickup can range from a few wooden pallets to several hundred.

The second step in pallet management is pallet reconditioning. This is a money-saving and environmentally friendly practice that involves repairing broken or damaged pallets instead of purchasing or building new ones. Pallet repair usually consists of replacing missing nails and removing broken boards in order to install new ones. Metal and plastic pallets are not as easily fixed and often are thrown away or recycled.

The final step in pallet management is selling the pallets to companies that need them. This arm of the business completes a cycle, because companies shipping out goods will contact the pallet company and order a certain number of flats. This often is done on a schedule, so the client does not have to maintain a large stack of pallets, which could take up valuable space. A delivery truck arrives and is unloaded with the proper number of pallets, improving the efficiency of the shipping process for the client.