JUNE 2023
- Core buyers will be more selective
about the core quality they will
accept from core emitters.
- Markets for poor-quality pallets will
be very soft.
- Lower margins could impact the
viability of newer pallet brokers in
the market.
- Pressured pallet providers will need
to find new opportunities to cut costs.
- Downtimes present an excellent
opportunity to work on systems,
automation, OSHA programs, and
more.
- M&A activity has slowed and will
continue to be slower as players
become more strategic about further
acquisitions.
- Data is critical to knowing costs,
managing inventory, and leveraging
customer relationships.
Elaborating on data, Brindley stressed its importance to pallet businesses going forward. “Now’s the time to really look at an ERP system,” he said. “What is your inventory? What customers are most profitable? How can you better utilize your people?
"I think what's getting ready to happen with AI and analytics will blow our minds."
- Chaille Brindley
“Data is only helpful when you analyze it,” he continued. “And I think what's getting ready to happen with AI and analytics will blow our minds. So with that being the case, you can't do that analysis with AI if you don't have the data. So increasingly, if data is not part of your business plan moving forward
as a key differential for your business, it needs to be.
“And the good news is that you're in an industry that is needed,” Brindley concluded. “If people are moving products, they need pallets.. They may try to get the lowest price they can. But at the end of the day, I think pallets have established themselves as a critical part of supply chain. That's not going to change.”