How to find the right pallets for your concrete block machines

Learn from the trial and error of an engineer with 25 years of experience in the industry!

As an engineer deeply involved in the concrete block-making process early on in my career, I faced numerous challenges in finding the ideal pallets for concrete block machine for various factories owned by my clients. The search for a pallet that effectively balanced cost, durability and performance was exhausting and often led to dead ends. We would need to pause production for faulty pallets or worse, we’d need to do a re-run for concrete blocks that didn’t form uniformly. These often caused delays which meant lost revenue.

Challenge #1: Cheap but flimsy pallets

The first issue I encountered was with softwood pallets. We decided to go with these early on in my career because they seemed to be the most affordable solution. I’d heard that they don’t last as long but that was future Akash’s problem! These pallets are made by joining multiple pieces, and these joints are highly sensitive to moisture.

As a result, they kept expanding and shrinking, which disrupted the size of the pallets and the blocks we used them for.

This led to uneven blocks, which was a significant problem for production as we had to discard them. We ended up having to replace the softwood pallets every 2-3 years (much earlier than I expected), which disrupted our workflow and caused headaches when searching for new suppliers. The problem was exacerbated when we used fast-growing softwood for the timber, as these types of wood simply don't last as long as other softwoods. Although much cheaper, these pallets deteriorated quickly leaving the factories in a lurch every time.?

Challenge #2: Expensive pallets

Steel pallet boards, while more durable, were significantly more expensive. I decided to try these out after softwood pallets because I was keen to try pallets that were durable so I wouldn’t have to worry about that aspect.

However, I noticed that the limited number of steel pallet suppliers had created a market dominated by only a couple of players, leading to inflated prices and a lack of innovation.

Additionally, our finger cars struggled to keep up with the weight of steel pallets. They weigh 2.5 times more than our RHINO hardwood production boards for concrete block machine, so the finger cars were carrying a significantly heavier load each day.

Challenge #3: Pallets that were mid-range but quick to deform

Expensive plastic pallets were touted as long-lasting, but even this product had its flaws. I observed that the pallets bent and flexed too much in the hot conditions inside our curing chambers, especially in a region like the Middle East. This caused serious problems with the dimensions and quality of our blocks, which was an undesirable outcome for the factory owner. Plastic is eventually plastic and will ultimately deform at higher temperatures. And the mountain of plastic at the end of their life cycle is a very unnerving and unpleasant sight knowing that this mountain will take hundreds of years to degenerate without the possibility of recycling ever.

Solution - Create my own pallets!

With over 25 years of experience in the concrete manufacturing equipment industry, I've worked on projects across the globe, from Germany to the Middle East to Australia. This experience highlighted a recurring problem in every project: while the concrete product manufacturing machines themselves are carefully calibrated pieces of engineering genius, they are often let down by poorly designed, cheaply manufactured, or prohibitively expensive production pallets.

Seeing this gap in the market, I launched RHINO Compose Pallets, where I've distilled my 25 years of experience into one product that is durable, affordable and refurbishable well after its service life; densified hardwood pallets for concrete block machine.

The pallets our team creates are crafted from densified plantation hardwood, making them comparable to steel pallets in durability but at a fraction of the price. Furthermore, they can be refurbished to last for far longer than you'd expect wooden pallets for concrete blocks to last.

Conclusion

So if you are tired of dealing with subpar pallets that hinder your production efficiency and increase your costs, it's time to discover the RHINO Compose Pallets difference. Contact us today to learn more about how our innovative pallets can revolutionize your concrete product manufacturing process: www.compositepallet.com