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The Journey of a Pallet: From Forest to Warehouse

At Millwood, we take pride in our commitment to sustainability and efficiency in the production of our wood pallets. 
 
Pallets are usually made of the wood at the center of the tree that is not a high enough grade to be used for much else. After lumber is used for construction, furniture, flooring and other essential goods, pallets utilize the leftover wood that would otherwise go to waste.
 
The life cycle of a pallet begins in the scragg mill, where short logs are debarked. Debarking is an important part of the process, as it helps the wood dry faster, prevents rot, and can expose and kill invasive insects. It also increases the longevity of the wood.
 
A pallet on a conveyor with a circular saw above it
 
The logs are then converted into converted into cants. A cant is a partially sawn log with at least one flat side. Cants can be ground into wood fiber or processed for pallet stock.
 
Cutting the cants produces sawdust and waste lumber, which are recycled for animal bedding, mulch, biofuel and erosion control.
 
Once the cants are cut to size, they are inspected for suitability, sorted and sent to the cut shop. There, they’ll be chamfered to prevent damage from forklifts, and the runner boards will be notched to allow four-way access, upon the customer’s request.
 
A cant being placed on a rolling conveyor by a worker
 
Millwood has two pallet assembly processes. The first is an automated nailing process. The boards are loaded into the machine and precision-nailed into place. They are then automatically flipped, and the tops are nailed into place. 
 
The second is a by-hand process, in which trained professionals work as a team to build the pallets quickly and efficiently at hand tables that are equipped with custom components to make sure your pallet is built to spec. 
 
four workers at a hand table using nail guns to nail pallets
Afterward, each pallet is checked by qualified quality control specialists, heat treated if necessary, stacked, strapped and loaded onto our trucks before being safely delivered to the customer. 
 
Millwood’s mission is that all who come in contact with our company would clearly see the love of Christ in all that we do, and that extends to our manufacturing process. Our pallet experts can help you discern the best pallet for any application. Contact us today to learn more!
 

 

Author: Jessica Chizmar
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