Finally getting around to bringing ton number two and three down to the basement. I took delivery a couple months ago. Anyway, anyone else take delivery of mwp this summer and notice that they stopped putting a bag over the pallet? Two of my three tons had a bag but one had a shrink wrapped bag directly over the ellets. Steve from wood pellet warehouse told me that is the new way that mwp is doing their pallet wrapping. Maybe Scotl can shed some light on this for us.
All of the MWPs at TSC are wrapped the same way this year. It doesn't appear to be working out very well for them. They have more water damaged product than I've ever seen in the past. When I go down there and look to see what they have in the yard, it pains me to see so much product go to waste. Just my observation: on the surface, it seems like there are two high level issues with the shrink-wrap format. First, the single layer doesn't provide enough protection for the product, so there are lots of damaged tons that haven't even been unwrapped yet. Once the skin is broken open, since there is only one protection layer, the product is immediately exposed to the elements. For the tons that have been unwrapped so folks can buy a few bags or partial ton, there is no way to cover the remaining product, so it is left exposed. They don't have any covered area in the yard to protect the exposed product from the weather. Next time I am down there, I will take a few pictures to share.
That goes with what Steve told me. If that single layer ripped at all and he was dropping the pallet outside somewhere and it rained before the homeowner moved the bags under a roof, the bags would take on water. With the large bags, he would have a bunch on hand and could place a new bag over a pallet if he suspected any potential rain damage after he completed his drop.
Any manufacture worth their salt is always looking for a faster, cheaper way to make their product. Trust me, the bean counters live for that sort of stuff.....but sometimes what looks like a great idea on paper, just doesn't work like you would like in the real world. Perfect example of that in our industry is bags. You can save $.05 cent per bag just using some that aren't as thick as others. A nickel doesn't seem like that much till you figure out that even a small mill could use 1-2 million bags a year...at a nickel saving each...that would add up ....but then you can get bad seams and someone can stick their fingers thru them pretty easy or they are "too slippery" and you have "the hassle factor"....or with a pallet. You can buy a new pallet for one price, or one that has been "gently used"....Again, there is no such thing as just being gently used when it comes to pallets, but they will save you a few bucks and if you use thousands and thousands of them a year...that can add up as well. The margins making pellets is far less than most people think, so saving a few cents here or a few dimes there....will add up. But at what cost? I have wrestled with this very question when figuring out what I wanted our product to look/handle like and at Upton. I elected to use a thicker bag, and depending on what time of year, the option to have a dealer order their product "double covered" for a cost and we do use a used pallet, but they HAVE to reach a certain quality standard, or they are rejected...period. Every option has it's +'s and -'s, so you have to weight if it is really worth it to change or is it just better to bite the bullet and spend the extra /pennies/dollars, but make sure it is done right....That is a question that every manufacture will face at one time or another. If you do it wrong, you will usually hear about it pretty quick...Do it right and it's one less problem you have to deal with and there are enough problems that crop up without going looking for more. It's been some time since I heard anyone complain about our bags/pallets/shrink wrapping from anything that has come out of Upton ....but some of those lessons we had to learn the hard way....others never seem to learn, are willing to put up with the hassle and the claims/problems which can be far less expensive settling the claim(s) than having to spend the money to correct it to start with....its simply how you want to run your business and just about every owner has strong opinions how that needs to be done. Pellets are not designed to be stored outside and no manufacture will recommend you do that, even for a short time. But we know they have to arrive dry and useable, not only to the dealer, but also their customers, so most will put a cover on and shrink wrap over the actual bags...some do a better job at that than others. I think a single bagged shrink wrapped cover is a great idea...as long as the plastic used is thick enough and can stand up to more than a few hours outside...MWP makes a lot of pellets each year, so if they have gone to the expense to do it that way, my guess is they will get it right.....I wish them good luck.
Doug, thanks for the insight. It all makes sense. I work in retail, so I get the whole cost cutting thing. Unfortunately in my area, it usually comes in the way of plundering employee health and benefit plans, but I digress. I bought a variety of pellet brands this year, and they were all wrapped differently. The Okanagans were wrapped in two bags, then shrink-wrapped. The Minute Man were wrapped in one bag, then shrink-wrapped. The MWP in TSC bags was "pallet bagged". I also got a ton of Platinum Pellets which was wrapped in three bags, then shrink-wrapped. The pellet bags also differed noticeably. After we put away the Okanagans and broke into the Platinum Pellets, my wife immediately remarked that the Okanagan bags were better quality. The TSC bags are also great quality, very thick similar to the Okies.
