Worthington Steelpac to Produce Lightweight Steel Distribution Pallet
02/18/2008 - Worthington Industries subsidiary Worthington Steelpac announces plans to begin mass-producing its Steelpac Distribution Pallet in March.
Worthington Steelpac announced plans to begin mass-producing its Steelpac Distribution Pallet in March. The company says the pallet is the first lightweight, flame-resistant steel pallet designed to meet Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) capacity and compatibility standards.
The stronger, more-durable steel pallet allows shippers to reduce costs per trip compared to wood or plastic pallets. The company says the pallet prevents rust, is flame retardant, does not attract or harbor insects, and has superior racking strength compared to traditional pallets.
“We feel our tests in big box retail and consumer packaged goods environments have prepared us well to offer this durable, cost-efficient product to material handling managers nationwide,” said Jon Holthaus, sales manager for Worthington Steelpac. “In the final 12 months of this testing, our steel distribution pallet had less than a 5% damage rate, which is five times less than the average damage rate of a traditional wood-block-style pallet.”
Additional testing at Worthington Cylinders, another Worthington Industries subsidiary, reinforced the product’s durability claim, producing a zero-percent damage rate after two years and 52 turns.
The Steelpac pallet, made of galvanized steel, measures 48- x 40- x 5.5 inches, and has four-way fork lift and pallet jack access. It features a fully-welded assembly without fasteners that gives it more than 3,500 pounds of unsupported racking capacity and 40,000 pounds of static load. It weighs 63 lbs., 10 lbs lighter than comparable wood pallets. The pallet’s target market includes material handling managers in the pharmaceutical, food manufacturing, chemical, lubricant and printing industries.
“The value proposition of the Steelpac Distribution Pallet is its durability, allowing the number of replacement pallets introduced each year to be reduced, saving the environment and saving organizations thousands of dollars,” Holthaus said.
There are approximately 1.3 billion pallets currently in circulation in the United States with another 500 million replacements entering the market each year. The company’s Pennsylvania-based facility currently has the capacity to produce large volumes of pallets. However, expansion plans for additional facilities are also being considered.
Worthington Steelpac, a Worthington Industries company, operates a manufacturing facility in Pennsylvania that designs and manufactures reusable platforms, racks, and pallets made of steel for supporting, protecting and handling products throughout the shipping process. The company began operations in 2001 and has concentrated on the customized pallet and racking business.
Worthington Industries is a leading diversified metal-processing company with annual sales of nearly $3 billion. The Columbus, Ohio-based company is a value-added steel processor and a leader in manufactured products such as automotive aftermarket stampings, pressure cylinders, metal framing, metal ceiling grid systems and laser-welded blanks.
