A brief intro into trees and wooden pallet
1.1 The Trees
One of most commonly found organism in Tropical Rainforest. And Malaysia being situated right above the equator, about 60% of its lands are covered with forest. The most important function of a tree is to convert CO2 into Oxygen, while storing carbon in its trunk. Not to mention that it helps to mitigate greenhouse effect by trapping heat and filtering toxic chemical from the air.
There is a common myth that chopping down trees will only harm the environment which cant be totally true. Study author Dr Tom Pugh, of the Birmingham Institution of Forest Research (BIFoR) said “A young tree can absorb 25 percent more carbon than an older one.” (Joe 2019). Logging & Reforestation can actually help to preserve the environment if done properly.
A sturdy flat platform that is widely used in distribution and logistics. It increases the efficiency of moving goods from point A to point B safely and conveniently. Wood materials are most widely used as it is strong, durable, inexpensive and highly customizable. In the Modern days, it has become an essential component in the supply chain movement. Without the existence of it, it is like the world has no vehicles around, and everyone has to move their legs to reach their destination. And you can already see how inconvenient it would be.
Though it is very common to see well established wooden pallet maker in overseas especially in the US market, Malaysia wooden pallet makers seems to be falling behind with the advancement in terms of the standardization of pallet sizes and uses, the technology integration in the supply chain, or even the use of business solutions that can help clients to solve millions of problems while letting them to focus on their core product/services.
2.0 The changing needs of wooden pallets
2.1 Lack of standardization of wooden pallet sizes and uses
The most commonly heard models are Euro Pallet which has a size of 800 x 1200mm, of which the length of 800mm can actually fits through many doorways in Europe. For US market would be the 40 inches by 48 inches. While Asia country would be 1100 x 1100mm and 1200 x 1000mm. However, in Malaysia context, there are a growing demand for assorted wooden pallet sizes that varies according to individual client, sometimes individual product. It is getting common for odd sizes pallet orders beyond 4 feet sometimes up to 10 feet. While the good news is wooden pallet is highly customizable, so there isn’t much challenge for the pallet makers to produce such product accordingly. However, on the other, it might limit the option of using alternative materials like plastic, paper or pressed wood pallets as it would require new molding to make such sizes which might not be practical for the pallet user.
2.2 Higher unit load per pallet (>1 ton)
Furthermore, there is an increasing loads per pallet capacity demanded from the market. Nowadays its more common seeing a single pallet carrying goods weight 1 to 3 ton as client would want to maximize the unit load per pallet so to ultimately reduce the number of pallets purchased.
2.3 Falling behind in supply chain management solutions
While many other countries pallet provider has expanded their businesses core values by providing supply chain management solutions, most of the local pallet makers are still focusing on producing the product solely. Some of the examples include inventory and warehouse management, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP system), real time tracking systems and so on.
3.0 When deciding to use wooden pallets
3.1 Compliance with shipping regulation (ISPM 15)
Wooden pallet users should take note about ISPM 15 requirement for exporting. Heat Treatment (Using Heat) or Fumigation (Using Chemical) is required when shipping wood packaging materials overseas. This is to prevent the spread of disease and insect that could negatively affect plants or ecosystems. In the other words, if proper treatment was not done, there is a chance that your goods will be detained in the port somewhere around the world. And trust me, it would be a total nightmare when it happens.
ISPM 15 Chopping on the sides
3.2 Weight Tolerance Requirement
The materials required for wooden pallet to hold 1 ton or 3 ton can be very different, so do the pricing. It is important to share with your pallet provider how much weight it is holding during the shipping in order to design the perfect fit with the right costing.
3.3 Gap Allowance
Is it necessary to be fill all gaps? Or it is fine with 2 -3 inches of gap allowance? That’s going to make a huge difference in the material costing as well.
Wooden Pallet Without Gap
1 – 2 inches gap
4.0 Future prospect and challenges
4.1 Challenges in integrating fully automation machineries
Due to the nature of a tropical rainforest environment, there is a diverse species of wood in the market. The inconsistency type of wood being sourced may pose restriction for fully automation to take place. Whereas, US & Europe they’re using mainly pine wood, so everything can feed into the machines smoothly. In Malaysia, the harder types of wood may jam the machine. Which means more labor work & time spent fixing and resetting the machines posting huge restriction for automation application.
4.2 Adopting new technology and business solutions
It is important for local pallet market to be creative and flexible in creating lasting values to their customers. We should learn from bigger market players and work out relevant solutions that are applicable to our local market condition.
With the recent progression in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) coalition, we wonder what additions it might bring to the whole market environment. Needless to say, the future does seem very exciting to all of us.
Mti wa Mti wa Mti wa Mti wa Mti wa Mti wa Mti wa Mti wa Mti wa Mti wa Mti wa Mti wa Mti wa Mti wa Mti wa Mti wa Mti wa Mti wa Mti wa Mti wa Mti wa Mti wa Mti wa Mti wa Mti wa Mti wa Mti wa Mti wa Mti wa Mti wa Mti wa Mti wa Mti wa Mti wa Mti. Kwa kuwa Malaysia iko juu ya ikweta, karibu asilimia 60 ya eneo lake imefunikwa na misitu. Kazi muhimu zaidi ya mti ni kubadilisha CO2 kuwa oksijeni, wakati kuhifadhi kaboni katika shina lake. Pia, inasaidia kupunguza athari za chafu kwa kukamata joto na kuchuja kemikali zenye sumu kutoka hewani. Kuna hadithi ya kawaida kwamba kukata miti kutaharibu mazingira ambayo haiwezi kuwa kweli kabisa. "Mwandishi wa utafiti huo, Dk Tom Pugh, wa Taasisi ya Utafiti wa Misitu ya Birmingham (BIFOR), alisema: ""Mti mdogo unaweza kunyonya kaboni asilimia 25 zaidi kuliko mti wa zamani.""" Uchimbaji wa miti na ukarabati wa misitu kwa kweli unaweza kusaidia kuhifadhi mazingira ikiwa inafanywa vizuri. Jukwaa la gorofa lenye nguvu ambalo hutumiwa sana katika usambazaji na usafirishaji. Inaongeza ufanisi wa kusafirisha bidhaa kutoka hatua A hadi hatua B kwa usalama na kwa urahisi. Vifaa vya mbao hutumiwa sana kwa kuwa ni imara, ya kudumu, ya bei nafuu na inaweza kubadilishwa sana. Katika siku za kisasa, imekuwa sehemu muhimu katika harakati ya mlolongo wa usambazaji. Bila hiyo, ni kama ulimwengu hauna magari, na kila mtu lazima aondoke na kwenda mahali anapoenda. Na unaweza tayari kuona jinsi inconvenient ingekuwa. Ingawa ni kawaida sana kuona mtengenezaji wa pallet ya mbao aliyejulikana sana nje ya nchi, hasa katika soko la Marekani, watengenezaji wa pallet ya mbao ya Malaysia wanaonekana kuwa nyuma na maendeleo katika suala la kiwango cha ukubwa wa pallet na matumizi, ushirikiano wa teknolojia katika mlolongo wa usambazaji, au hata matumizi ya ufumbuzi wa biashara ambayo inaweza kusaidia wateja kutatua mamilioni ya matatizo wakati kuwapa kuzingatia bidhaa zao kuu. Mfano wa kawaida wa pallet ya mbao ni EuroPallet, ambayo ina ukubwa wa 800 x 1200mm, ambayo urefu wa 800mm unaweza kuingizwa kupitia milango mingi ya Ulaya. Kwa ajili ya soko la Marekani, inapaswa kuwa 40 inchi kwa 48 inchi. Kwa upande wa Asia, kiwango cha maonyesho ni 1100 x 1000mm. Hata hivyo, katika mazingira ya Malaysia, kuna mahitaji ya kuongezeka kwa ukubwa wa pallet ya mbao ambayo inatofautiana kulingana na mteja mmoja, wakati mwingine bidhaa moja. Kwa kawaida, pallet ya ukubwa wa kawaida ni zaidi ya mita 4 na mara nyingi hadi mita 10. Wakati habari njema ni mbao pallet ni sana customizable, hivyo hakuna changamoto sana kwa watengenezaji pallet kuzalisha bidhaa kama hiyo ipasavyo. Hata hivyo, kwa upande mwingine, inaweza kupunguza chaguo la kutumia vifaa mbadala kama vile plastiki, karatasi au paleti za mbao zilizofunikwa, kwani inahitaji umbo jipya ili kutengeneza ukubwa ambao hauwezi kuwa wa vitendo kwa mtumiaji wa paleti. Kwa sababu ya kiwango cha juu cha mzigo kwa pallet (> 1 toni), inapaswa kuwa na uwezo wa juu wa mzigo kwa pallet. Kwa sasa, ni kawaida kuona pallet moja kubeba bidhaa uzito wa tani 1 hadi 3 kama mteja angependa kuongeza mzigo wa kitengo kwa pallet ili hatimaye kupunguza idadi ya pallets kununuliwa. Wakati wa kupanua biashara zao, wazalishaji wa pallet wa nchi nyingine wameongeza thamani ya biashara yao kwa kutoa ufumbuzi wa usimamizi wa mlolongo wa usambazaji, wazalishaji wengi wa pallet wa ndani bado wanazingatia uzalishaji wa bidhaa tu. Mifano ya mifumo hii ni pamoja na usimamizi wa hifadhi na kuhifadhi, mipango ya rasilimali za biashara (ERP), mifumo ya kufuatilia wakati halisi, na kadhalika. Kwa hivyo, kwa sababu ya matumizi ya pallet ya mbao, ni muhimu kuzingatia kanuni za usafirishaji (ISPM 15), na kwa hivyo, ni muhimu kuzingatia mahitaji ya usafirishaji. Matibabu ya joto (Kwa kutumia joto) au Fumigation (Kwa kutumia kemikali) inahitajika wakati wa kusafirisha vifaa vya ufungaji wa mbao nje ya nchi. Hii ni ili kuzuia kuenea kwa magonjwa na wadudu ambao wanaweza kuathiri vibaya mimea au mifumo ya ikolojia. Kwa maneno mengine, ikiwa matibabu sahihi hayakufanywa, kuna uwezekano kwamba bidhaa zako zitashikiliwa katika bandari mahali fulani ulimwenguni. Na niamini mimi, itakuwa ni ndoto mbaya kabisa wakati inatokea. ISPM 15 - Kukata upande 3.2 - mahitaji ya uvumilivu wa uzito - vifaa vinavyohitajika kwa pallet ya mbao kushikilia tani 1 au tani 3 vinaweza kuwa tofauti sana, hivyo bei. Ni muhimu kushiriki na mtoa huduma wako wa pallet uzito unaoshikilia wakati wa usafirishaji ili kubuni fit kamili na gharama sahihi. 3.3.-Kufanya kazi kwa muda mrefu: Je, ni muhimu kujaza mapungufu yote? Au ni sawa na 2 - 3 inchi ya ruzuku ya pengo? Hiyo itakuwa na tofauti kubwa katika gharama ya vifaa pia. Pallet ya mbao bila pengo 1  2 inchi pengo 4.0 Matarajio ya siku zijazo na changamoto 4.1. changamoto katika kuunganisha mashine za kiotomatiki kabisa Kwa sababu ya asili ya mazingira ya msitu wa mvua wa kitropiki, kuna aina mbalimbali za mbao sokoni. Aina ya kutofautiana kwa mbao inayopatikana inaweza kuwa na kizuizi kwa automatisering kamili kutokea. Wakati, Marekani na Ulaya wao ni kutumia hasa misonobari mbao, hivyo kila kitu inaweza kulisha katika mashine laini. Huko Malaysia, aina ngumu zaidi za mbao zaweza kuzuia mashine hiyo. Hii inamaanisha kazi zaidi ya kazi na wakati uliotumika kurekebisha na kuweka upya mashine zinazoweka kizuizi kikubwa kwa matumizi ya automatisering. Kuchukua teknolojia mpya na ufumbuzi wa biashara ni muhimu kwa soko la pallet la ndani kuwa ubunifu na kubadilika katika kuunda maadili ya kudumu kwa wateja wao. Tunapaswa kujifunza kutoka kwa wachezaji wakubwa wa soko na kufanya ufumbuzi unaofaa ambao unatumika kwa hali yetu ya soko la ndani. "Kwa maendeleo ya hivi karibuni katika muungano wa ushirikiano wa kiuchumi wa kikanda (RCEP), tunajiuliza ni nyongeza gani inaweza kuleta kwa mazingira yote ya soko. """ Bila shaka, wakati ujao unaonekana kuwa wenye kusisimua sana kwa sisi sote.