20 WESTERN PALLET
Annual Meeting Speakers (Cont'd from Page 19)
Regarding the potential for industry disruption, Brindley first looked at the escalating importance of warehouse automation as supply chains look to benefits such as reduced workforce, improved storage utilization, faster order assembly, and better accuracy.
As for disruption in the pallet industry, Brindley listed several areas of consideration:
RFID/Tracking of Pallets on a Large Scale: "The technology is there," he said. "It's really just the willingness and the money to deploy it to get the data. And is the data worthy of that?"
AI to Improve Customer Interaction and Sales: "The other big one… that I think is super huge, is AI to drive customer interactions and sales… But there are now chat bots, and all sorts of software that you can use to search engines, and all sorts of things that are becoming available…where AI can have a huge impact on looking at your ERP system, pulling data out of that, helping you how to be able to deal with things from your own data…"
Other potential disruptors to consider, Brindley noted, included:
- The establishment of national pallet control standards
- The use of vision systems to police reycled standards
- Automation that can full repair a pallet
- New pallet design or composite material
- True environmental scoring for every pallet
- Interconnected ERPs and order tracking
- Automated lumber feeding into nailers that works in all weather environments
- Lightning fast nailer changeovers
Brindley also discussed the launch of PalletTrader, a new online marketplace for pallets that seeks to revolutionize the industry for both buyers and sellers, as well as recent California legislation that outlines recycler rights. You can read a copy of the legislation by following this link:https://openstates.org/ca/bills/20212022/AB1760/.
Each year, the WPA Vice President is tasked with organizing the speaker slate for the Annual Meeting. Steve Mazza should be congratulaed for putting together a winning combination, providing great value for attendees.