Modern Materials Handling - November 2012

MODERN reader surveyThe pulseon palletsFrom wood to plastic to pallet pools,our readers tell us what’s important in pallets.By Bob Trebilcock, Executive EditorAt first glance, the pallet market mayappear to evolve at the same pace asthose pre-historic looking reptiles foundon small, forgotten islands. However,between a shortage of quality used pallets,new requirements from CostcoWhat are the most important factors in your decisionsto use a certain type of pallet?Purchase priceStrengthDurabilityCustomer requirementsReusabilityCost per useAvailabilityWeightRecyclabilityCleanabilityRepairabilityEase of disposalDesign versatilityFire rating 4%13%12%11%10%22%21%35%33%38%43%49%55%63%Source: Peerless Research Group (PRG)and the introduction of a new palletpool from a consortium of ers, the past year has seen a number ofmanufacturnewdevelopments in the pallet market.Have those developments filtereddown to the manufacturers, wholesalersand retailers among Modern’s palletusingreaders? And, what moves ourreaders when it comes to pallets? Thoseare among the questions we explored inthis year’s annual pallet survey.To answer them, we surveyed e-mailsubscribers of Modern as well as a sampleof recipients of our e-newsletters.We received 672 qualified responses,defined as a reader who is employed ata location that uses pallets. Here’s whatwe learned.The who, what and how of palletsWho is using pallets, what are theyusing, and how are they using them?For starters, most respondents (58%)are involved in manufacturing, witha variety of industries represented.Wholesale distributors (17%) and retailers(6%) are also represented.The respondents represent a solidmix of large companies with revenues34 N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 2 / MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING mmh.com