NWPCA's First Annual Innovation Award

Recipients of this award will be those end users or end user groups who:

§         Contribute to the design, manufacturing efficiency or use of pallets.

§         Identify new markets for pallet makers.

§         Create a new role for pallet providers in the supply chain that expands their value to customers.

§         Advance the knowledge of pallet makers or users in a significant way. 

 “We’ll be presenting the award at our Annual Leadership Conference each February,” said Scholnick.  “We’ll be soliciting nominations from our members and directly to end users through their trade publications throughout the year.”

 The first recipient of this prestigious new award is Corporate Packaging, IBM Worldwide Distribution.  They received this honor for their efforts to develop voluntary standardized guidelines for use by pallet designers and manufacturers for use in the electronics industry.

IBM is the founder of the Electronics Industry Pallet Standard task force, a group of representatives from a variety of companies in the electronics industry.  Their purpose is to reduce total supply chain costs by improving the quality and consistency of pallets used in the computer industry.  Their primary goal is to combine the expertise of electronics manufacturers and unite their wants, needs and expectations in establishing voluntary specifications to be used by component suppliers, manufacturers, resellers and distributors, retailers and reverse logistics.

 “For an end user of pallets to put so much time, energy and resources into these efforts is extraordinary,” said Monte Lowe, the newly-elected Chairman of NWPCA.  “Their initiative in creating a task force of electronics users and developing voluntary standards is emblematic of the purpose and principles of the NWPCA Annual Innovation Award.

“I’m honored to accept this award on behalf of IBM,” said Bob Sanders, Senior Engineer for IBM Corporate Packaging.  “It’s one that is rightly shared with all of the companies who serve on the EIPS task force.  Their contributions, along with various other divisions in IBM including our Graphics Design Group, were instrumental in furthering the development of these voluntary standards.”

 NWPCA is an international trade association of unit load professionals who manufacture, recycle and distribute pallets and other unit load bases, containers and reels.  NWPCA is dedicated to the success of its members by helping them create environmentally responsible, cost-effective solutions to meet their customers’ changing materials handling needs.