TANKOMC

New handling pallet from Palac Industries Inc.

By Ronald Bannon MBA, Adm.A., FCMC

February 18th

2015

Asselin Bannon

Strategic Management Consultants Division of la Société de gestion et de formation GEXIMTM Inc.

Have you ever asked yourself why do we still use wood for making handling pallets as raw

material, especially hardwood, is becoming increasingly scarce? Yet companies continue to use

pallets made of wood because there are no real alternatives available at a reasonable cost since

it has been commissioning in the 1940s.

My business partner Johanne Asselin and I realized, in a recent study on the subject, that the

use of handling pallets was so widespread that its use was commonplace over time. We found

out that the increasing flow of pallets required for manufacturing operations also caused

problems generating significant costs for the Society and for the latter. Here are the main ones:

• industrial accidents of any kind;

• maintenance problems of warehouse space and equipment (because of wood splints);

• contamination problems (the pallet is always in contact with the ground); it must be

heat treated, especially for export;

• problems with rusting nails and end up breaking out boxes, containers and damaging

the products on which they rest during transport;

• Finally, because of the scarcity of hardwood, pallets are now made of softwood with a

lower strength. This finding requires users to replace pallets more often.

Despite the establishment of a Sustainable Development Program in force (BSQ Rule 21000) by

the Government of Quebec to help companies to change their working habits

(www.bnq21000.qc.ca), wood pallets continue to meet the dumpsters as quickly as they are

produced.

Plastic pallets have appeared several years ago to address various issues that we have identified

in our study but their selling prices have remained quite high and they are not totally immune to

some contamination problems. What is the best solution under the circumstances?

Palac Industries (www.palac.ca) from St-Felix-de-Kingsey has designed a new range of

galvanized steel pallets called TANKOTM in accordance with the GMA standard (48 x 40 inches)

currently under US patent pending. Manufactured and assembled in Quebec, the TANKOTM is

light (15 to 21 kg) and it can be taken with a pallet truck on the four sides. It is available in three

models depending on the required load capacity: the Economic (up to 545 kg), the Light (500 to

1.000 kg) and Standard (from 1,000 to 1,500 kg). Its price varies from 59 to $ 75. We believe that

TANKOTM pallet will help improve the quality of working conditions and bring a better use of the

raw material for companies and their employees seeking for sustainable development.