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Getting Your Product from Point A to Point B Safely

For manufacturing companies, production is just the first step. Getting that product to its next destination safely and intact is a make or break moment for your manufacturing business. Manufacturers of sensitive goods – like pharmaceuticals, precision parts or even glass – can’t afford an unreliable pallet and shipping container partner. Luckily, those that choose Kamps Pallets can count on our unwavering reliability, as well as our understanding of the unique shipping challenges the manufacturing industry faces.

Shipping from a Tier One Supplier to an OEM

Your product has made it through manufacturing, testing and quality control and is ready to be shipped – great! It needs to arrive on time and in pristine condition, or else the entire final product quickly falls apart. Take windshields for example – the perfect example of a product that must have the highest level of protection in shipping to its final assembly location. Without that promise of safe delivery, the final consumer product could be delayed, or worse, become a safety issue.

One way to address safety issues is through custom pallet design. Through our design program, we uncover the best solution at the best value to meet your safety needs and shipping requirements, like quantity or weight limits. Effective shipping and logistics is a lot like solving a puzzle – and with more than 45 years of experience, we’re well-versed in finding the best solution.

Meeting Shipping Regulations

Shipping regulations are a part of every industry, but manufacturers of pharmaceuticals face a particular challenge. Their product has a direct impact on the lives of many every day, and it’s important that it arrives on time and within a certain temperature range to be the most effective.

Your shipping products need to be able to handle those same conditions without losing integrity. So if that medication needs refrigeration, you better be sure that your pallets will have no problem holding up to those same temperatures for long periods of time. And for those that ship pharmaceuticals internationally, heat-treated wooden pallets will prevent costly delays at customs.

Keeping Precision Parts Safe During Shipping

When you’ve perfectly produced a bearing that only had 1/10,000^th of a tolerance to begin with, you know that damage during shipping is absolutely unacceptable. Whether it’s a small part that makes up a machine to rescue trapped miners or a key computer component that operates the drone to keep our soldiers safe, these products need to be shipped with the utmost care so that when performance counts, they can bring their A-game.

In addition to the custom pallet design we mentioned above, Kamps also provides unique products like corner posts, bracing pieces and protective fillers. Used in combination with sturdy pallets, our boxes, crates and fillers help make sure your product arrives the way it was meant to be.

We’re no strangers to the shipping challenges that the manufacturing industry faces. At Kamps, we focus on innovative solutions, customized pallet management process and trusted service so that you can be confident that your product arrives the way it was intended.

What other challenges are you facing? Contact one of Kamps Pallets’ friendly sales reps today to get started on a solution!

Keeping our team in tip-top shape for the daily slalom

With the 2018 Winter Olympics just around the corner, all eyes will soon be on the elite athletes of our country. But every day, we’ve got our eyes on the industrial athletes at Kamps. While there are no gold medals for our team members, their health and wellness are essential to our company’s ability to provide outstanding products and services.

What are industrial athletes?

Just like professional athletes, industrial athletes use their talents in jobs that require skill, strength, flexibility and endurance. While our pallet builders aren’t racing towards a finish line, they are still competing to exceed the industry standard so that we can provide the very best for our customers. That’s why we count our team among the elite industrial athletes.

Why do we place emphasis on health and wellness?

Just like professional elite athletes, our team members work on the same types of jobs, day in and day out. As any athlete will tell you, repetition and overuse can lead to injury, so we do all we can to prevent injuries to our workers. Keeping their career enjoyable and their body healthy outside of work is one of our top priorities. After all, our team is among our most valuable assets.

How Our Team Trains Like Olympians

• Basic Training
  To be the best, you have to start with the proper skills. Olympic athletes work on the basic mechanics of their sport before ever moving into speed and endurance competitions. Often, this includes breaking motions down movement by movement to understand how the body works together. Likewise, each of our team members goes through training at Kamps, which covers a variety of positions. From pallet builders to fork lift operators, our training ensures that everyone knows how the pieces and parts work together to create our products.
• Injury Prevention
  Making sure you aren’t hindered by avoidable injuries is just as important as improving your performance. Like we said above, overuse and repetition of a specific body part can cause stress and injuries. For Olympic athletes, that may mean going back to the basics and remastering them. For our team, this comes in the form of safety reminders in our monthly newsletter. These safety reminders, along with additional training as needed, keep our teammates safe and alert.
• Proper Preparation
  You may have heard the saying “proper planning prevents poor performance.” We take that to heart. Pallet building and dismantling is a physical job, without a doubt. Our shift leaders take each team through a series of stretches prior to beginning work. These few moments to focus on the physical demands and safe procedures for our team put everyone in the right frame of mind for peak performance during their shift.

When you see an athlete, whether it’s an Olympian or an industrial athlete, they make it look so easy. Keep in mind that each has spent hours and hours mastering the basic skills and training to compete at that level, whether it’s at the Olympics or their next shift.

Are you looking for an opportunity to master your skills or train with some of the best? Visit our Careers page and check out openings near you!

Various Options Available from Kamps Pallets

Maintaining high quality products and competitive prices is a challenge many of our customers can understand. The pallet industry is no different! Particularly over the last few years, we’ve seen a strain on the lumber supply that has resulted in new options for Kamps Pallets and our customers.

While lumber is a renewable resource and we take great care to use it responsibly, the lumber supply is tightening for the near future. As the main component of our product, the changes in lumber supply and demand impact our product tremendously.

Why has lumber demand increased?

A rebounding US housing market.

You may have noticed that a new house popped up in your neighborhood, or that construction is finally moving along in that new suburb. The US housing market is coming back, which is undeniably positive. It does, however, put a strain on the supply of lumber in our country. While pallet companies and construction companies use different grades of lumber, there is still some overlap that creates stress on our supply. Additionally, the oil industry and railroads are vying for the same grade lumber that we use to make our pallets.

Regulation changes.

Two major regulation changes in the world market are impacting the price and supply of softwood lumber. Canada recently placed a tariff on Canadian wood as an anti-dumping penalty, and this has slowed NAFTA treaty renegotiation talks. This creates uncertainty until an agreement is reached and price pressure on a major supply of softwood lumber for the US.

As we know from Economics 101, high demand and low supply leads to a higher cost. So we’ve taken great care to provide a variety of options to meet our customers’ need for high quality pallets without needing exorbitant budgets.

Where does that leave us?

Increasing Cost.

A booming economy is great in many ways, but it does usually result in an increase in price, mostly due to an increase in the cost of materials. We’ve seen this especially in the hardwood lumber market. For many of our customers, wooden pallets remain the best choice, so we work hard to provide the best quality products and various options to meet your needs.

Quality testing.

Our customers can rest easy knowing that even though market conditions may influence the materials we use, the integrity of our pallets will not change. You can count on Kamps Pallets to provide pallets that meet your needs for strength, durability and flexibility.

How have we dealt with the limited resources?

Quality reconditioned pallets.

With less new lumber available, reconditioned pallets have become one of our most effective strategies to produce a high-quality product and provide clients with cost-conscious options. Our reconditioned pallets meet the same quality standards as our newly built pallets, and help stretch your dollars as far as they’ll go.

Remanufactured pallets.

Similarly, we’ve created cost-efficient options by rethinking the way we build new pallets. Custom pallets made from recycled materials or a combination of new and recycled components have proven to be an excellent way to counter new lumber price pressure. Our custom pallet design system allows us to explore different combinations of lumber to meet your specifications, weight needs and other pallet requirements. Allowing for variation in stringer and deck materials is another way to produce a quality product within your budget.

It’s a priority to keep our customers informed of the current wood market conditions. This helps you make an informed choice for your business and allows us widen our offerings to best suit your needs. And of course, no matter what the market does, you can count on the same quality customer service you’ve always received from Kamps.

Want to learn more about the pallet products and services at Kamps Pallets? Contact one of our great sales reps today!

The cost-savings associated with partnerships instead of vendor relationships

With Black Friday in the rear view and Christmas still to come, many people are focused on the price of the products they need. Will it go on sale? Can I get a better deal? What’s the catch?

But when it comes to your operations, it’s important to remember that it’s not about the cheapest price. It’s about the most affordable price. Can you afford to deal with demand and supply mismatches? Can you afford to spend time managing your pallet supply across multiple locations? Can you afford the hit to your brand if products are delivered damaged or late?

When the focus is on securing the cheapest price, there is always the risk of receiving an inferior product or poor customer service. In that case, the cheapest price can negatively affect your customers and, in turn, cause damage to your brand that adds up to more than you saved.

At Kamps, we build a partnership with you because we want to meet your long-term needs. A fire sale of low-priced pallets might meet your needs at this moment. But will they be there when your needs arise again? Will they help you manage your supply? Moreover, was the lack of pallets your actual problem, or is it an inefficient management program?

When it comes to your pallet supplier, the cheaper option may lower costs initially, but it could cost you in the long run. That is why Kamps approaches each account as a partnership rather than just a vendor relationship. We value your business, and we want to provide a valuable product to you. That comes from thoroughly understanding your needs and meeting them on-time – whatever it takes.

What’s more, a partnership can actually save you money in ways you may not consider if you’re solely focused on the final cost.

With a partner like Kamps, you benefit from:

• Consistent and sustainable costs.
  Kamps has been in business for more than four decades, and we plan to be around for many more to come. Because we price our pallets in a sustainable way, you can count on consistent quality and prices from Kamps. We won’t lure you in with dirt cheap prices and hike them up later. This helps you set yearly budgets accurately and not worry about the quality of your product being affected.
• Understanding of your products and needs.
  We are the pallet experts so you don’t have to be. That means rather than just picking any solution on your own, we work with you to find the most efficient solution. Think of it as treating the problem, rather than just the symptoms. Our understanding of your business needs grows the longer we partner together, making our advice all the more valuable as time goes on.
• Growth for all.
  Whether it’s a new location or a new product, our growth is focused on meeting your needs. Kamps invests in long term service and solutions, including people, equipment, technology and inventory. Our eyes are constantly on the industry, our finger on the pulse, so we can find innovative, proven ways to meet your needs efficiently. Our goal is to maximize the value of our partnership to your business.

Developing a partnership with your pallet supplier is an efficient use of your resources. With Kamps, you get to work with one company who has nationwide capabilities. And you’ll find some of the best customer service in the industry, as well as a wealth of market- and industry-specific knowledge.

We know you’re looking for the right match of price and quality, and we’ll help you get there. Explore a partnership with Kamps by contacting us today.

Are You Making the Most of Your Supply Chain Partnerships?

As Ben Gomes-Casseres wrote in his Harvard Business Review article, “Setting up an external partnership as if it were a PO [purchase order], at best, leaves value on the table. At worst, it leads to conflict and value destruction.” That’s exactly why Kamps team members are focused on becoming more than just the pallet supplier to our customers. We commit to building relationships through regular business reviews and open communication lines.

What Goes into a Business Review?

We kick off our business reviews with an overview of our company. This isn’t to brag or present a sales pitch, but to give our customers confidence in the strength and stability of Kamps. Just as we proactively seek new opportunities and value for our clients, we do the same for ourselves.

But when it comes down to it, our business reviews are to talk about our relationship with you. We take both a qualitative and quantitative approach to this. Our quantitative review starts with the basics like budget allocations and year-over-year comparisons.

We also evaluate service expectations, such as how orders are placed, expected turn-around time, trailer requirements and other priorities associated with our partnership. We analyze our own service performance as well, and aim for 99% on-time delivery. During review, we let you know whether we hit or missed the mark.

After that, we move into reporting qualitative data with a quantitative analysis. This portion of the report includes a review of our performance, including incidents, billing, quality and more. When talking about quality, it’s important to provide context along with the numbers.  For example, should ever be a quality control issue, we want customers to know why it happened and what actions we took to correct it so they are confident it won’t be an issue again.

Bonus: Green Scorecard

Our wood resources are precious and we aim to make the most of them. In addition to the raw data and qualitative analysis, our business reviews also include our Green Scorecard. We track how our focus on sustainability translates into environmental savings for your company.  Whether it’s through reconditioning, recycling or pallet pooling, our logistics choices have an impact on the environment. By keeping accurate records, both our company and yours can see just how efficiently Kamps utilizes our natural resources.

Benefits for Your Business

Our business reviews are a great time to ask questions and relay information that may influence your supply chain needs. Is a new location opening? Do you have new products with specific shipping requirements? We want our reviews to be a dialogue rather than presentation. Let us know what’s most important to you so we can exceed your expectations.

Most importantly, regular business reviews are a tremendous help when budgeting and planning for the next year, especially as we enter Q4. When you chose Kamps Pallets as your pallet management company, you are gaining a partner who is invested in the growth and success of your company. In addition to assessing our past performance and services, we proactively identify new solutions to help you meet your goals.

We believe that our business reviews demonstrate our investment in the success of your company. And that’s what establishes Kamps Pallets as a partner, rather than just another vendor. Ready to see what value Kamps can bring to your company? Request a quote today and let’s begin our partnership.