PalletGirl

Biomass plant in Carson City, Nevada planning on using pallets from landfill to provide power to it's correctional facility. (seems like a good idea)

The inmates will be used to recover the material from the landfill (another good idea) however the "State" will have to provide workers to do it in the winter. (huh?) Is Nevada's winters so cold that the inmates cannot be in the elements, but the State workers can?


"Tom Baker said the landfill, Carson City Renewable Resources, doesn't depend completely on the forest for the wood it receives because it gets items such as pallets and stumps. "

Mr. Baker does further state that there are several pieces to the "jigsaw"........ Read the entire article. Good idea, but I think it has a few glitches.

Labels: pallets, wood fuel

Being the owner of a small pallet manufacturing operation I wear many hats. Basically I am the CEO of every single facet of the business. I have been seeing all of these articles about how multitasking can rot your brain and cause stress. Along with these articles are suggestions like do one thing at a time until finished......like I would if I could.

I have taken several time management courses over the last 15 years of my professional life thinking that I would find that One trick that would make it all better. Let's face it. In the real world of managing a business we do NOT have the luxury of choosing to take one thing at a time and finish it, nor do we have to time to create all of these time lined "to-do" lists with priority codes, etc. etc. etc.

Below is a comment I recently made to a Yahoo article about multi-tasking. I think it sums up my feelings rather well.

I am interested in other opinions.....even if they do not agree with my own.
(comment) A manager has to have the ability to multi-task. Plain and simple. There is NO Choice. Yes, it does cause your brain to explode, and many other stress related health issues. When possible, it is more effective to work on one thing at a time and move on to the next. One certainly has less errors and more of a sense of accomplishment: However, that is in the perfect world and most of us managers do not have that luxury to make that choice. We have to deal with and make decisions on the fly or the whole place could shut down. I often joke that my title should be "fire-fighter" because on some days it is all about running from one fire to the next and at the end of the day the desk reflects that you have literally done nothing....but one must take evalutions on the split second decisions and troubleshooting demands that occurred throughout the day.....(Please hold phone is ringing..must answer....Ok, where was I?)and walk away thinking about all of the "saves" that occurred instead of all the things on your desk you didn't get done (ok, I have answered two employee questions and attended to an equipment malfunction in the midst of finishing this sentence)you will feel more satisfied. There are some things that have to be pushed aside and dealt with later....no choice. I have taken at least 3 different time management courses over the last 15 years and in a fast paced business where YOU are the head of every department.....TIME Manages YOU! I choose to be a Happy Person who almost always deals with every person and event with a smile....even when I don't feel like smiling. Trust me, it helps! That is the one thing I do have a choice over. How I deal with each day! Good luck...and task on!

Labels: business management, export pallets, multitasking, time management

NC pallet has been certified through TPI since 2004. They are great to work with and always provide excellent customer service to my export customers not just myself. They are always willing to go the extra mile to keep us informed of the ever changing laws regarding exporting wood packaging and crates.

This article does a really good job explaining who they are and what they do.

Labels: crates, export pallets, wood packaging

I got so excited when I started reading about the new Software in development for managing a Pallet Co. I took over ownership of a small custom pallet business and we are growing. My responsibilities are growing and you will hear me say daily "I wish there were 3 of me" anyway the excitement fizzled when I got to the cost. $20-30, 000. Obviously this is for the high end Pallet company. I will keep my fingers crossed for a much less expensive package for us smaller pallet manufacturers.

Read article here

Labels: business management, pallets

I get all kinds of requests from customers looking for quotes on pallets. Some know exactly what they need and how they are designed. Others just say "shipping wants a pallet this size". There are so many variables in Custom pallets ranging from stinger widths to how thick the deck boards are to be and what is the gap variance? This article from Pallet Enterprise does an excellent job in explaining why Board Footage is important to a pallet manufacturer in order to determine a fair price.

What is in a Board Foot?

We have a customer that wants a fairly big sized pallet that is almost a solid top. This makes it hard for our employees to see the stringers to nail to. They have been utilizing a standard construction chalk line in order to nail straight and to secure the decking to the stringers.

This morning they ran out of chalk and I happen to have the kid's sidewalk chalk in my office. I thought that would bring them some humor when I walked up to them and gave it to them to use. Of Course they started laughing and making comments of how they were going to graffiti the pallets. We then filled up the chalk line and they continued.
After lunch, I noticed them using the sidewalk chalk to mark the deck boards as they placed them on the stringer. This process seemed to go faster for them and they actually like it better!

Who would have thought that the children's sidewalk chalk could be so valuable in a pallet company.

Today my driver tells me of a new innovative way to make sure your fork truck drivers don't have to break to snack. I guess they created a "chip bag holder". This fork truck driver never got off his forktruck, well except to go replace the empty bag of chips.

Driving with one hand and munching with the other. NO joke