As wooden pallet in Malaysia covers more than 80% of the market share when it comes to pallet for industrial uses, manufacturers, electronics, food, logistics and etc. So, we need to know the good vibes and also the bad vibes when it comes to using wooden pallet in Malaysia, no matter if you are using it for storage, transportation of goods or even exporting your goods to the overseas market.
Why 80% of consumers for pallets uses wood? The reason behind is darn straight forward, they are very easy to source for anywhere and is pretty cheap. That's the main concern for businesses when it involve money and purchasing. Anything in the world would have disadvantage and advantage to it for sure. Today, we going to talk about the advantages and also disadvantages when it comes to using wooden pallet and you be the judge if this product suits your application or is it worth while when it comes to ROI (Return on Investment) when using such products.
THE ADVANTAGES
Lets talk about the good stuff to get the vibes going, everyone like the to talk about the great things before moving on to the ugly stuff.
PRICING
We can come down to basically 4 main type of material use for wooden pallet in Malaysia. That will of course be the metal, plastic, paper and wood. Comparing with all these awesome raw material use to produce the pallet. Wood comes in first when we talk about PRICE. Yes, indeed wooden is cheaper comparing with all the others type of material.
RECYCLABLE
Wooden pallets that are damage and beyond repair does not goes to waste, it is going to be RECYCLE into wood based products (Particle board, animal bedding, wood chips and some becomes furniture).
STRENGTH
Its indeed pallets, we know we need them to be strong. When we compare in term of strength, wooden pallet still have higher friction comparing with the younger brother metal, plastic and paper pallet. With the advance technology, this may not be the main reason nowadays because technology had made plastic, metal and paper pallet to be strong as well.
REPAIRABLE
Wooden pallet are being manufactured in a way with wooden blocks and nail them together. Which mean, if that particular blocks are damage in the application, users can always repair them by replacing them with a new blocks and nails. This process can goes several times before they are totally damaged and unusable. You can have a look at the video below regarding "HOW WOODEN PALLET ARE MADE".
THE DISADVANTAGES
So, we are done with the good stuff and now lets talk about why they are bad and things you need to put into consideration when dealing with wooden pallet.
HYGIENE
Lots and lots of pallet are being used when it comes to shipping internationally, especially if we are talking about shipping from Malaysia to Australia, Japan, Korea, United Kingdoms and United States. These region hold strict regulation when it comes to wooden pallet. Wooden pallet are often homes to insects and plants or molds, which carry disease and in order for you to ship internationally from Malaysia, wooden pallet needs to goes to series of costly treatments before it can be use (fumigation, heat treatment, chemical treatment and the list goes on.
RESIDUES
Wooden pallets left residues all the time when you are using it in your applications. They left over dusty trails of splinters and if damage the wood chips crack and fall all over the place, which you need to take care of as you do not want wood in your products especially if you manufactured or dealing with food. Besides, you do not want your warehouses, office, or factory to be dusty. This is time consuming for your workers or staff to deal with as they can deal with other stuff rather than doing the cleaning day in day out.
DAMAGE
As we had discussed above, there are nails involve when it comes to wooden pallet. As times goes by, there is a risk for protruding nails and either put your workers in hazard or just simply damage your goods or packaging. This will be another hidden cost that you need to put into consideration.
LIFESPAN
Even though the wooden pallet can be repair when the damage occurs. We often found out that they do not last as long as Plastic pallets or metal pallets. Which mean, you need to be replacing it more often in the long run. In Malaysia many businesses consider wooden pallet as a cost rather than an asset.
So, there you go the good sides and the bad sides. This is my opinion throughout my years of experience when dealing with wooden pallets.
Anyway, if you have a new opinion, drop me an email anytime as I would always want to know more. We know, different people different views. I sincerely hope that this help you make some serious decision.