Manufacturing of pallets as a business. Is pallet manufacturing profitable as a business? Details on how to organize the production of pallets

Big profits for an entrepreneur can be brought not only by high-tech industries that produce goods of a certain category that are in demand on the market, but also by those that produce packaging and containers for these same goods. And in the market, in the entire “packaging” niche, the leading position is occupied by the production of wooden pallets. And this is understandable, since it is unlikely that at least one large plant (and it does not matter what it produces - food or building materials) can do without them. A pallet is a special transport container that has a rigid platform sufficient to create a full-fledged cargo unit.

Our business assessment:

Starting investments – from 5,000,000 rubles.

Market saturation is average.

The difficulty of starting a business is 6/10.

How to start your own pallet production from scratch? What initial investment will the business require?

Relevance of the pallet manufacturing business

The demand for packaging products is consistently high in any economic situation. No wonder - any field of activity that requires loading/unloading large quantities of goods cannot do without the use of pallets. Therefore, in this production area you can always find your consumer, because in every city there are large stores, warehouses and some industrial enterprises.

Owning a pallet production business in Russia is also profitable because it requires the supply of only one type of raw material - usually wood. And wood in any of the regions of our country is offered at relatively low prices. Other advantages include the simplicity of the technology and low requirements for personnel qualifications.

Perhaps the only drawback of the business is the high initial investment in the business. It will take a decent amount of money to purchase an automated line. But this problem is solved simply by many craftsmen - by organizing production at home.

The advantages of organizing a workshop, if you plan to take out funds through a bank loan, you should definitely include a business plan for producing pallets from scratch. Thus, the chances of receiving the required amount will increase significantly.

What products can be produced?

In general, the ISO 6780 standard defines pallets in 6 standard sizes. But of the variety of products, the most common are 2 types of pallets with dimensions:

1200*800 mm,
1200*1000 mm.

Since the production of wooden pallets of the designated standard sizes is practically the same from a technology point of view, several types of containers can be produced on one line at once. But as for pallets of other sizes (for example, 1200*1200 and 1140*1140), they are unlikely to be in great demand on the market. Therefore, it is better to produce them only to order.

And to make the production and sale of pallets more profitable, you can offer clients pallets with removable or foldable elements. For example, folding corner posts allow you to stack one pallet on top of another without damaging the transported product. In particular, those companies that transport tires will be interested in such containers.

Pallet manufacturing process and required raw materials

The technology for producing pallets is extremely simple - if you have functional equipment, all the work is done by machines. Largely because of this, budding entrepreneurs and investors turned their attention to this area.

The design of the pallets, regardless of the standard size, is the same. Each of them has “skis” (bottom boards), cubes (for fastening the bottom and top “layers”), transverse boards with flooring (for installing the load).

The production of pallets using fully equipped equipment includes the following steps:

Cutting blanks for cubes and flooring.
Trimming boards.
Trimming parts.
Product assembly.

All domestic companies producing wooden pallets must follow GOST 9557-87. It completely follows the European standard UIC 435-2.

To organize production, it is worth finding suppliers of raw materials in advance. The workshop will require solid wood bars and wooden boards of grades II-III. You can't do without nails. The best option is to find direct suppliers of wood raw materials - sawmills. Woodworking enterprises will supply boards already fully prepared for use to the plant. Otherwise, you cannot avoid additional expenses for the purchase of grinding equipment, which, naturally, will increase the final cost of wooden pallets.

Pallet production workshop equipment

Modern automatic pallet production line

The next thing to be decided is to buy equipment for the production of pallets. There are enough suppliers of technological lines on the market, and therefore there should not be any problems with this.

Modern lines are delivered to workshops fully equipped and ready for operation.

An entrepreneur can choose a semi-automatic or automatic production line. For small workshops, it is advisable to choose the first option - the costs are lower, and the equipment will not be idle if there is a lack of customers. The productivity of semi-automatic lines is ≈2 pallets/min at a cost of 4,000,000-6,000,000 rubles. The price of equipment for the production of pallets, fully equipped and more powerful, will be significantly higher - from 10,000,000 rubles. But what’s good about an automatic pallet production line is that it can operate without failures for many years, and its maintenance does not require specially trained personnel.

Simple pallet assembly machine

The costs will be even higher, since to produce high-quality products and make work easier, additional equipment will be required - a milling machine, a corner cutting machine, a hydraulic unloading conveyor.

To reduce the cost of equipping a workshop, you can purchase used equipment. Supported lines, if you monitor the offers, are also sold in good quality.

There is only one way to reduce the cost of workshop equipment to a minimum - to learn how to make wooden pallets and make them yourself. But there are a lot of difficulties ahead, since the manufactured products must strictly comply with norms and standards, and this is, of course, difficult to do in artisanal conditions.

Problems of selling finished products

The production of wooden pallets as a business will only become profitable when sales channels for finished products are established.

Who will be interested in the products manufactured by the enterprise?

agricultural enterprises.
large hypermarkets and markets,
cargo carriers,

To attract more customers, you can offer companies additional services such as fixing broken pallets and collecting them from the premises.

The best option is to find customers at the planning stage of the enterprise. Then, by the time the workshop is launched, sales channels will already be established, and the price of the pallet production line will pay off much faster. Finding clients will not be easy, since many of them are probably already collaborating with someone, and it will be possible to lure them “to your side” only with more favorable delivery conditions.

How much profit can a business generate?

According to experts, the profitability of the business is quite high - with the right approach, equipment for making pallets with your own hands will pay for itself very soon.

According to rough estimates, a small-capacity mini-workshop will pay for itself after 3 years of one-shift operation. And having loaded the line to the maximum, you can expect payback much sooner - in 1.5-2 years.

If we take into account how much a machine for the production of pallets costs and how much will be spent on renting premises, the capital costs of starting a workshop will be at least 5,000,000 rubles. This is quite an impressive amount for beginning entrepreneurs, so it will not be possible without private investment or a bank loan.

The specific profit of the workshop will depend on some components - the quantity of products produced, its cost. For a specific example, the following figures can be given: the selling price of a pallet is ≈300 rubles. with its cost of ≈230 rubles.

As is known, the production of auxiliary components for goods, for example, containers, packaging, etc. materials often turns out to be more profitable and more cost-effective than the actual production of these goods. This is explained simply: containers are made, as a rule, from one material and do not require complex processing, while the product itself can be multi-component and produced using high technology.

If we talk about the Russian pallet market, then the pallet manufacturing business is one of the most popular and profitable compared to many other areas.

The point here is not only that many organizations in various fields of production (as well as some trading companies) actively use wooden pallets and often renew their fleet. There is one small point in the production of pallets that significantly makes life easier for Russian manufacturers of this container: imported pallets are not only more expensive than domestic ones, but their import into the territory of the Russian Federation is associated with certain difficulties, in particular, when clearing pallets at customs, they are required to undergo paid phytosanitary control at the border .

Plastic and metal pallets do not undergo such control, but they are much more expensive and therefore have not taken root in our country. The quality of Russian pallets is in no way inferior to the so-called. “European pallets”, provided, of course, not manual and artisanal, but machine and industrial production.

In foreign countries, the production of pallets is standardized (UIC 435-2 standard), and their mandatory factory assembly is even regulated by a number of laws. Indeed, pallets produced on specialized lines are of higher quality than those produced by hand, not to mention their geometry.

In Russia, mandatory machine assembly is optional, although GOST 9557-87 repeats the European standard almost word for word. All technical aspects - tolerances, allowances, thickness, number of nails, chamfers, etc. in UIC 435-2 and GOST 9557-87 are the same. Therefore, when producing pallets according to domestic state standards, you can safely call them “European pallets” - this will significantly increase the demand for them, because goods of foreign, especially European, standards are in great demand in Russia.

Technology and equipment for pallet production

But no matter how popular and profitable the production of pallets (wooden pallets) is, when starting your own business, special attention should be paid to the choice of equipment for their production. There are two options for equipping a pallet production workshop: purchasing used equipment and new equipment.

In principle, the choice depends on your financial capabilities, although having enough starting capital to purchase a new line does not automatically mean purchasing it. If you carefully consider offers for used lines, you can pick up two, three or even more lines for the same amount.

The technology for producing pallets is extremely simple, so we will omit its detailed description in this article and limit ourselves to a brief one. Blanks - boards and checkers or bars - are placed in the templates of the nailing machine. The pairing of the pallet legs with the main part occurs in one pass in two different templates. The template with legs is fed after the nails are driven back by the operator of the nailing machine, and the knocked down legs are transferred to the main template, which, after knocking the pallet in it, goes further.

Those interested can watch a video showing the operation of a pallet production line, located at the end of the article. The main thing to understand is that the main and almost the only component of this line is the hydraulic belt nailing machine. Other equipment is considered optional.

So, looking at the prices of used nailers, we can say that they vary very widely. You can even find devices from the 1980s on the secondary market! Moreover, you shouldn’t even pay attention to them - you just need to remember that the service life of such equipment before major repairs is about 10-12 years, and in an ideal case, such repairs are carried out every 8-9 years.

If a car produced in the 1980s has been properly maintained during its service life, then it can be safely purchased, especially since the price for such copies is very low: approximately from € 8,000-9,000 to € 15,000, and in some cases (although they , of course, the exception is more likely than the rule) the cost of a line for the production of pallets in very good condition reaches € 75,000-80,000.

Cars produced in the next decade, that is, the 1990s, are no longer even considered obsolete - this segment is most densely packed with offers that are very close in price to the production lines of the 2000s: the price range for models of the last decade of the last century is approximately from € 16,500 to € 140,000 [from 0.7 to 6 million rubles]; lines from this century of production are estimated at between € 100,000 and € 295,000 - practically indistinguishable from new ones at the upper limit.

As you can see, preference should be given to the options of the 1980-90s, as the most profitable. Buying a line from the 2000s at the price of a new one is simply irrational.

New pallet production lines are usually offered in two versions: equipped with one nailer (capacity 1-2 pallets per minute) or based on two such machines mounted on a conveyor (capacity 5 pallets per minute). The first option will cost approximately 11.5-12 million rubles, the second - about 17.5-18 million rubles.

In addition to the basic equipment, some additional equipment is required, which can be safely taken used - it is used at less than 80% of its actual capacity. Such equipment for the production of pallets includes a milling machine for longitudinal blanks - € 9500-€ 11000, a hydraulic unloading conveyor - € 12000- € 13000 and a corner cutting machine - € 18000- € 21000.

For the production of pallets, solid wood bars or sawdust blocks, boards of grades II - III, cut in accordance with the required pallet sizes, and nails are required. The characteristics of each component can be found in GOST 9557-87.

The ideal option would, of course, be to purchase raw materials from woodworking enterprises: sawmills, etc., otherwise, most likely, you will have to purchase additional equipment for dissolving and cutting solid wood - a batch trimmer, etc., since finished semi-finished products are significantly increase the cost of the pallet. Sometimes (in particular for checkers) production waste can be used.

The production technology of pallets involves their production from raw boards and subsequent drying in special drying chambers with a capacity of 400 cubic meters. m or more. During drying, the tray is also soaked in antiseptics.

Profitability and development prospects for the pallet production business

The profitability of pallet production depends on only one factor - the cost of raw materials for their production. Therefore, it is better to start such a business at least in regions with a developed woodworking industry, and in an ideal case - generally at a woodworking plant - this will reduce the costs of both the raw materials themselves and their transportation. In addition, among the clients of the woodworking plant there will certainly be additional buyers of pallets.

The cost of substandard, unedged and semi-edged boards of the required size is 3-4 thousand rubles. per cubic meter meter. The timber for cutting checkers is somewhat more expensive - from 4-5 thousand rubles. per cubic meter meter, although much less is required. But checkers glued from sawdust will cost about 1.5-2 times less. Based on these prices, the cost of one pallet will range from 200 to 250 rubles, on average, for example, 225 rubles. The selling price of a pallet is about 265 rubles on average.

Thus, the income from one pallet is approximately 40 rubles. A line that produces 3 pallets in 2 minutes will produce more than 700 per day, and more than 17 thousand per month. The profit in this case will be more than 700 thousand rubles. Annual income is approximately 8.5 million rubles, minus taxes, workers' wages, utility bills, etc. the net profit will be no less than 4.5-5 million rubles. in year. This is if you work one shift. If, for example, a line with two nailing machines is used, producing 5 pallets per minute, and operating in 3 shifts, the net profit is about 120-150 thousand rubles. – per day or somewhere around 3.5 million rubles. per month!

The break-even point for the first described scheme occurs in approximately 2.5-3 years. If you work in 2 shifts, that’s half as much. When using the second scheme, the capital invested in the equipment pays off in less than a year, of course, provided that all produced pallets are sold instantly, that is, under ideal conditions.

Do you produce your own products? Are you engaged in regular transportation? Do you store goods in warehouses? Then you probably cannot do your work without special containers that help ensure the safety of your cargo. The production of wooden pallets - as a constant source of shipping containers - is of interest to farms and agricultural enterprises, markets and shopping centers, manufacturers and shippers. With such significant demand, the level of competition is also high. And today many companies are engaged in the production of wooden pallets.

The key factors when choosing a specific supplier are:

Product quality, its full compliance with GOST requirements and sanitary and epidemiological standards;
Offered range of products (possibility of manufacturing pallets of standard and non-standard sizes);
Competitive prices and favorable terms of cooperation for regular customers.

The production of wooden pallets is carried out on a very large scale. This is due to the high demand for such containers on the market, as well as the relative low cost of production. The production of wooden pallets is carried out on automated and semi-automated lines. At the same time, the quality of products must comply with current GOST standards.

Production of wooden pallets

Are you interested in deliveries of wooden packaging - promptly and of any volume? Then take a look at our offer. The ideal combination of high quality and reasonable price will interest any entrepreneur! The production of wooden pallets is the main activity of our company. The products we produce are used by many domestic organizations, representing both small and medium-sized and large businesses. For the production of pallets, we select exceptionally high quality lumber. Thanks to this, our products comply with all international and domestic standards.

Pallet production is a complex process that is carefully controlled at all stages. For the manufacture of containers we use coniferous and deciduous wood. The choice of material depends on the wishes of the customer and the characteristics of the future operation of the pallets (weight and dimensions of the cargo). Cutting and processing of wood is carried out on modern woodworking equipment, under the close supervision of our specialists, which eliminates the possibility of defects in finished product samples. In the production of pallets, screw and rough nails are used as fastening elements. Finished products are sent to customers or temporarily stored in warehouses with optimal temperature and humidity.

The good thing about owning your own business is that every future entrepreneur can find something of his own, based on criteria known only to him. For example, choose a business based on interests, size of financial investments, proximity to sources of raw materials.

In cities where many enterprises are located, for example, it is good to open a pallet manufacturing business or. A company producing containers will never remain idle. Even if production in a country is in its infancy, there is still always something to be scattered, poured, or transported. But we will now try to find out how profitable it is to make wooden pallets.

Idea Analysis

Analyzing the need for the chosen business is the first step to its successful opening.

The production of pallets can definitely be considered profitable because:

Such production has a wide range of clients interested in the product;
Our country is very rich in forests. The main raw material for the manufacture of pallets is wood, and therefore, you do not have to spend exorbitant capital on the material;
The production process does not require highly skilled labor, so wages will not be very high;
Businesses using this product prefer to buy it locally rather than import it. Pallets from abroad are more expensive, they are inconvenient to transport, and why?
The product described often needs updating, and its relevance does not in any way correlate with the seasons or weather.

Thus, if you organize production correctly, you can derive considerable benefits from it.

Every novice businessman should not only estimate the profitability of the business, but also make a review of prospective buyers, at least in his city.

The company's target audience will consist of:

Large companies involved in production;
Large and not so big markets;
Warehouses;
Farms;
Shops and supermarkets;
Companies operating in the field of cargo transportation.

When negotiating with them, remember: competitors are not asleep. Offer the best conditions - and the production of wooden pallets as a business will go like clockwork.

Production technology

Pallets can be both typical and non-standard, but they all have approximately the same structure:

Bottom boards;
Wooden cubes connecting the top and bottom;
Cross boards and flooring on top of them - this is where the load is placed;
The structure of the pallet is specially designed so that it is convenient for a special machine to grab it.

The production of things like pallets refers to certain standards. One of the main ones is GOST-9557-87.

Materials for production are usually purchased. They can be done on site if you master the technology. Such materials should be stored in dry rooms in ventilated packages. The basic requirements and production technologies are described in GOST, where you can also find the sizes of boards and nails.

Pallets are produced in several ways:

The first is the use of waste from the timber processing industry. It is the most affordable and widely distributed in sawmills. The pallets are constructed by hand using hammers and manual labor. It's cheap, but the products are of very low quality.
The second method involves using a pneumatic hammer. The process goes much faster, but the output product is still of the same poor quality.
The third method is used in small companies and is a semi-automated line.
The fourth method is a fully automatic system. It is much more expensive, but the products are produced in large quantities and of good quality.

Business plan

A business plan for the production of pallets usually begins with the search for premises. I’ll say right away: you need a large room. Ideally, a warehouse or hangar so that a production line, a materials warehouse and a finished products department can be freely located there. There are special requirements for the building: it must be dry, well ventilated, there must be convenient access routes, and all communications must be connected. Sun, wind, dampness - all these factors can damage the appearance of the product or affect the strength, and therefore reduce the price of the product.

Repair and equipment

Did you manage to find and rent a small warehouse? Great, now we need to get it in order. No repairs are required as such, but the walls need to be insulated and a ventilation system installed.

This production is a fully automated process and you need to buy equipment.

Equipment for the production of pallets

A hydraulic nailer (there is an option to use one or two) is the main equipment.

The remaining vehicles are considered additional:

Apparatus for cutting corners;
Milling machine;
Hydraulic conveyor.

Also don’t forget about shelves, a table and chairs, an equipped bathroom and a rest room for employees.

If you also make the material (boards) on site, you will need to purchase a sawmill, an edging machine (for cutting the edges of the boards) and an end-cutting machine for cutting the cubes connecting the two halves of the pallet.

The main thing you should pay attention to is do not buy new equipment. Sure, you can shell out for a production line that has never been used, but why spend several million more? If you buy machines manufactured in the 90s of the last century, they will function no worse than devices produced 5–10 years later.

The materials you will need to purchase are boards, cut according to GOST, or sawdust, nails. Regular nails will not work. Nails for pallets are called ruffs and are a cross between a nail and a self-tapping screw. They are thick and have special notches to ensure the nail fits firmly into the wood.

Equipment for the production of wooden pallets

Staff

To work, you will need to hire people to service the production line, an accountant, a manager whose responsibilities will include communicating with clients, a security guard and a cleaner.

You will need from 2 to 4 employees per line. There are no special requirements for their work experience or professionalism, so you can limit yourself to a salary of 150–200 dollars. You don’t have to hire an accountant on a permanent basis and limit yourself to his services in preparing reports. The manager will keep records of clients, work with Internet resources, answer questions and calls.

Advertising

Advertising for the production of pallets is, first of all, an offer of your services to the target audience that you identified in the “Analysis” paragraph. The person responsible for advertising should contact representatives of these companies and offer them mutually beneficial cooperation. TV, Internet and leaflets are almost useless in this case. The only thing that will work is an advertisement in a specialized press.

Pallet manufacturing as a business is not very suitable for a novice businessman. It is undesirable to open small, semi-handicraft enterprises here; expensive equipment is required. The production line alone will cost a business owner approximately $80,000. In the same time

It is always much more profitable to engage in production than to resell finished products. The main problem with which it is important not to make a mistake is the choice of products. Today we will learn how to organize the production of wooden pallets as a business.

Wooden pallets are containers for transporting and storing a wide variety of goods. Using various methods, the cargo is attached to the pallet. The cargo is loaded on pallets to make it easy and simple to load using special forklifts.

The use of pallets is quite wide. They are very often used for storing building materials, in supermarkets for placing goods, in warehouses and industrial enterprises.

How profitable is it to make pallets?

It should be noted that there are a number of reasons why the production of pallets as a business is a very profitable enterprise. There are several reasons for this.

The recent growth in production in the Russian Federation suggests an increase in production output. And any product needs packaging and loading and unloading. This is where pallets come to the rescue.
The production of pallets is a fairly simple process. In such production there is no need to use complex equipment and multi-component raw materials. It's quite simple.
The demand for wooden pallets is quite high. Moreover, the demand for these products is not subject to seasonal fluctuations.
Pallets are made from wood, which means there are no problems with sourcing and supplying raw materials. Wood is a fairly affordable material.
Such production does not require hiring workers with serious knowledge and skills. This presupposes the ability to hire sufficiently low-paid employees.

As you can see, there are plenty of advantages to such a business.

Registration of ownership of a business

In order for the enterprise to operate legally and not have problems with regulatory authorities, it is necessary to register ownership before starting work. This can be done in two ways:

To register with the Federal Tax Service as an individual entrepreneur, you must contact the tax service at your place of registration. In this case, it is necessary to submit the following documents:

identification document (passport) and its copy;
a receipt for payment of the state fee for registering a citizen as an individual entrepreneur;
a document confirming the assignment of an individual taxpayer number and a copy thereof;
statement.

If documents are submitted not in person, but through a representative, then in addition to the listed documents, it is necessary to submit a notarized power of attorney for the right to represent the interests of the principal in the Federal Tax Service and documents identifying the representative.

Before writing an application for registration as an individual entrepreneur, you must select a taxation system and a business activity code according to the All-Russian Classifier of Types of Economic Activities (OKVED). As a taxation system for the production of wooden pallets, we can recommend the use of a simplified taxation system. OKVED code is selected 20.4 - production of wooden containers.

It should be noted that documents can be submitted in several ways.

Directly to the branch of the Federal Tax Service at the place of registration.
Through the multifunctional center.
Through the website of the Federal Tax Service.

If you are planning large-scale production from the very beginning, then it is better to register as a limited liability company. To register a limited liability company, the following documents must be submitted to the tax service:

application for registration of a limited liability company;
receipt of payment of the state fee for registration of a limited liability company;
charter of the company;
document on the establishment of the company;
document confirming the presence of a legal address.

Read also: Equipment for the production of sawdust briquettes

All these documents can also be submitted in person or through a representative.

Manufacturing process

The design of pallets, regardless of their size, is the same. All pallets consist of:

base boards;
wooden cubes on which the upper and lower parts are supported;
flooring directly on which the load is placed.

The structure is designed so that a forklift can drive up and lift the pallet. There is a GOST for wooden pallets with the number 9557-87. Moreover, our GOST corresponds to the European one.

If you decide to produce wooden pallets, then the main criterion for your work should be the quality of the product. If standards are violated during production and the geometry of the product is not respected, this can lead to serious problems when using the product. And this, in turn, can lead to refusal of your products and, accordingly, your losses.

Several production methods and raw materials can be used to produce quality pallets:

It is possible to produce pallets from scrap boards. Actually, this is waste - various leftovers, trimmings and illiquid goods. This is the cheapest option and, as a rule, the resulting product is of rather low quality. These products are made entirely by hand.
The next method is production, using a hammer on a pneumatic motor, using a pallet mold.
A semi-automatic line is one of the methods for manufacturing products. Such lines are used in small industries.
The process, which is fully automated, can be afforded by fairly large manufacturers. Pallets produced on such lines are of high quality and are produced in large quantities.

Which production method to choose is up to you. First of all, from the opportunity to invest money in production.

Raw materials

Even waste wood can be used to produce wooden pallets. Naturally, products made from rejected timber will be of low quality. You should understand that the higher the quality of the wood that is used for production, the higher the quality of the finished product.

It should be noted that despite the fact that the quality of the wood should be at a sufficient level, its moisture content is not of fundamental importance. In accordance with the standard, wood can be dried in the form of a finished product.

Production premises

If you plan to start your business at the initial stage on a small scale, then production can be organized, even in a garage. If you are planning to develop a large enterprise from the very beginning, then you should look for a large premises that will meet all the requirements. Otherwise, the subsequent move will take a lot of time, money and effort.

The premises for the production of pallets must meet a number of requirements. In particular:

the room should be fairly dry so that the finished product does not get wet, but can dry if necessary;
presence of a ventilation system;
availability of good access roads of sufficient size for freight transport;
The room must have a flat concrete floor.