hey are used by the millions, found in every major retailer, and play a critical role in our modern economy. Without this product, our ability to ship and sell goods would be tremendously limited.

We're talking about the wooden pallet, one of the least-recognized and most-necessary parts of our modern economy. Thousands of these pallets are made each day at the Mahoning Township plant of Remmey Pallet CompanyWooden pallets, along with hydraulic forklifts, were designed at the end of World War I by the government to facilitate the movement of supplies overseas. Today pallets are omnipresent, used to move everything from food and water to the paper and ink used to print this newspaper."Pallets are an indispensable product," said Bill Schneider, vice president of sales at Remmey. "They are the key to moving massive quantities of goods across the country. We're the beginning of the logistics chain. Today's world cannot move without pallets."Remmey produces around 8,000 pallets per day in its two plants located in Mahoning and Beaver Springs. This output places the company in the top 1 percent of pallet manufacturers.Every Remmey pallet is made to order, with companies requesting everything from a standard 48-inch by 48-inch pallet to specialized plastic pallets used by pharmaceutical and food companies to reduce the risk of wood contamination during the manufacturing process.Remmey also produces pallets for military applications. Custom pallets are designed using computers with software designed by Virginia Tech.The Mahoning plant houses both the company's corporate office and a large manufacturing site, which includes an area to store raw materials, a cutting building and a nailing building.The inventory yard is where shipments of raw materials come onto the site from lumber yards in northeastern Pennsylvania and southern New York. These raw materials are stored until needed, and then moved into the cutting building using yard lifts."Every pallet is a custom-made pallet," said Bill Lusignea, the CFO of Remmey. "This is true of all new pallet manufacturers. There is a lot of equipment needed just for cutting."The cutting building houses two lines of workers utilizing a gang saw and band saw line. The gang saw is used to cut and stack cants, or partially sawn logs, into usable boards. The band saw is used to split boards into smaller pieces.Boards may also go through a notcher, which adds the holes that will be used in a four-way pallet to allow forklift access from any side. A chamferer adds an angle to boards and allows the forklift to lift the pallet without striking the bottom.Remmey's nailing building includes three automatic Viking nailing machines, which use hydraulics to precision nail components of pallets. The bottom of the pallet is nailed together first, then flipped to add the top of the pallet.Pallets meant to be shipped across country borders must be heat-treated to kill any bugs, an international shipping rule. Pallets are heated in a propane-fueled kiln to 137 degrees. Approximately 70 percent of Remmey's pallets are heat-treated and marked, making them capable of being used for international shipments to South America, Asia, and beyond.From raw materials to finished, heat-treated product, employees at Remmey work quickly to ensure each custom-made pallet is made in a timely manner."Since our pallets are made to order, we want to cut lumber on one day, nail the pallets on the second day, and deliver them on the third day," Lusignea said. "We're at capacity and we're very busy. It's a statement that there is still some growth in our economy."While Remmey deals only with new pallets, damaged pallets can be repaired, making them an environmentally friendly product.Nearly all pallets are made as a byproduct of hardwood goods such as furniture, utilizing the wood that has been rejected by manufacturers of furniture or wooden flooring."Even though we use a lot of lumber, we never cut a tree down to make pallets," said Schneider. "We're the byproduct industry. We use the leftover lumber and use it to create a very useful product.""The wooden pallet is made from resources that will just grow again," he added. "Trees, after a certain point in their life cycle, need to be harvested so that younger trees can grow in their place. It's a cash crop, no different than growing corn or tomatoes, except that trees take much longer to grow. A professional forester thinning out and removing mature trees can make for a healthier forest."While pallet companies may utilize leftover lumber, they aren't the last stop by far. Remmey collects its sawdust in large silos, and this sawdust is sold to local farmers for animal bedding. Cut pieces that are too small to be made into pallets can be turned into mulch for gardeners. Their Beaver Springs plant sells scraps to be made into wooden pellets. Remmey also uses a wood stove to heat its buildings during the winter.With more than 60 years in the business, Schneider noted that Remmey prides itself in its reputation as a reliable, dependable company that quietly moves the cogs of today's economy."We're taken for granted, but without the pallet the rest of these industries would grind to a halt. We make the $7-10 product that makes all of this possible," he said. "It's what we do. It's why we wake up in the morning."