Meeting Number 1:
Conducted via Conference Call on Wednesday, Dec. 16, 1998

Attendees:

bulletRichard Hoffman (Univ. of Nebraska)
bulletBeth Feldkamp (Compaq)
bulletRon L Johnson (Intel)
bulletJohn Morris (IBM)
bulletPaul Russell (HP)
bulletJohn Hayward (Republic Systems)
bulletEd Iwasaki (Apple)
bulletJohn Clarke (VTU)
bulletDr. Marshall White (VTU)
bulletChris Gough (AMP)
bulletRichard Black (AMP)
bulletBob Sanders (IBM), Task Group Leader

Minutes:

1. Conference calls will be scheduled throughout 1999 on the third Thursday of the month at 11am eastern time (US). This time was selected to allow attendance by anyone within the US or western Europe within normal work hours. The exception to this will be anytime we decide to meet face to face. We also decided to meet in conjunction with the TransPack conference. This will be 8:30 - 11am on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 1999. Non-attendees may be able to dial in using the number listed below. It is recommended that all member companies plan to send one rep to the meeting in Orlando.

Action: Bob Sanders to schedule 1999 conference calls.
Note: The numbers and passcodes are not the same all year. With the exception of Feb. these are all the third Thursday of each month. See below for details....

bulletJan. 21, 1999 11am eastern, dial 712-271-1192, pass code 86986#
bulletFeb. 24, 1999 8:30a eastern, dial 712-271-1192, pass code 86986#
bulletMar. 18, 1999 11am eastern, dial 712-271-1192, pass code 86986#
bulletApr. 15, 1999 11am eastern, dial 212-547-0189, pass code 99789#
bulletMay. 20, 1999 11am eastern, dial 212-547-0189, pass code 99789#
bulletJune 17, 1999 11am eastern, dial 212-547-0189, pass code 99789#
bulletJuly 15, 1999 11am eastern, dial 415-228-4625, pass code 90702#
bulletAug. 19, 1999 11am eastern, dial 415-228-4625, pass code 90702#
bulletSept 16, 1999 11am eastern, dial 415-228-4625, pass code 90702#
bulletOct. 21, 1999 11am eastern, dial 415-228-4625, pass code 90702#
bulletNov. 18, 1999 11am eastern, dial 415-228-4625, pass code 90702#
bulletDec. 16, 1999 11am eastern, dial 415-228-4625, pass code 90702#

2. The name of the group is Electronics Industry Pallet Standard (a task group under P2E2 committee of IoPP). It is possible that the name will change if the scope changes (Computer industry only vs. Electronics Industry). Official recognition of the group by IoPP is simply a matter of filling out a form provided by Perry Biancavilla.

Action: Paul Russell to check with Perry that form has been filled out and submitted to IoPP.

3. Scope: Originally intended to be computer industry but later expanded to include electronics industry overall. There was some concern that a scope too broad may slow us down. It was also noted that the scope could be broad but the focus in the beginning could be more limited. Therefore, the "focus" could be the computer industry short term with the scope including the electronics industry. I have no intention of trying to achieve a true worldwide standard requiring acceptance by all other industries (ex. chemical, grocery, automotive, etc.). However, it is useful to watch the progress of other industries since it could affect our group.

Action: Chris Gough and Richard Black to check with EIA (Electronics Industry Association) to see if there are any problems or concerns or if parallel efforts are already underway in the electronics industry.

4. Members: Each company to identify a "lead rep" who will be responsible to coordinate efforts within his/her respective company and would be the official voting member for that company should we require a vote on any particular issue. Participation is open to all pallet users within the computer/electronics industry and others with technical expertise of value to pallet users (ex. VTU). The group will decide when and if to include pallet suppliers or pallet logistics companies into the discussion.

Action: Each company to nominate a lead rep. Provide names at Jan. meeting.

Action: Get IoPP to publicize the group to ensure that others in industry are aware (Bob Sanders / Paul Russell).

5. Communications: If you do not receive this directly from me, please send me an e-mail notice so that I can add you to the distribution list.

Action: Paul Russell (HP) volunteered to host a website that we can use to collect and disseminate information related to this effort (an extension of http://packaging.hp.com/).

6. Goals / Objectives: In general, Quality, consistency, reusability, environmentally friendly, cost effective. Each participant also had a chance to summarize their personal objectives for the group. I'll do my best to capture these thoughts below. If anything has been misstated please let me know so that it can be corrected.....

bullet- Compaq (Beth Feldkamp): Currently using 40x48" and 1.0x1.2m but Singapore using up to a dozen different types. Desires common worldwide standard for all inbound and outbound shipment that assures overall cost effectiveness.
bullet- Intel (Ron Johnson): Benefits of standardization are huge. Desires a worldwide standard.
bullet- IBM (John Morris): Get European (and Asian) influence in this effort to ensure worldwide acceptance.
bullet- IBM (Bob Sanders): I desire a true worldwide standard which achieves the best compromise on MH equipment, cube utilization on air, truck, and intermodal transportation, and warehouse racking systems. I believe that the 1.0x1.2m block style is the best chance to achieve a worldwide standard for our industry. I support the notion of a non-wood pallet leading to an industry pool program. I like full perimeter style (because of carton stacking) but uni-directional seems to have best chance of European (and therefore worldwide) acceptance. Since the computer industry pipeline typically starts in Asia and flows from there it is important to consider Asian interests and manufacturing capability in this study. Note: To see lots of these choices go to http://www.dicpallet.com (a Japanese supplier).
bullet- HP (Paul Russell): Wants a worldwide standard, preferably non-wood which will naturally lead to a pallet pool system by default.
bullet- Republic Systems (John Hayward): Standardization will improve material handling selections. Presently have to take on unnecessary costs to accommodate non-standard pallets.
bullet- Apple Computer (Ed Iwasaki): Apple has been slip sheeting within their system for 10 years. However, must still palletize freight outbound to customers. Wants to reduce the damage caused by bad pallets.
bullet- Virginia Tech (John Clarke / Dr. Marshall "Mark" White): VTU will assist this committee in an advisory role. Have done similar for the grocery and chemical industries in the past. John will provide all applicable references to the group for our consideration (existing standards, etc.). Similar earlier efforts led first to performance oriented standards vs. actual pallet design specifications. Dr. White is also close to standardization efforts in Europe (ISO and CEN) which will be useful to us.
bullet- AMP (Chris Gough / Richard Black): AMP ships to most other industries and is therefore affected by all of their respective "industry standards". They would like to see a true "all industry" standard, not limited to just computers or electronics. Standardization within our industry is a step in the right direction.

7. Dr. White was asked to offer some advice based on his extensive experience in this type of effort. Comments paraphrased as best as I recall follow....

bullet- Asia uses both block and stringer style. Europe is all block style, US is predominantly stringer style.
bullet- US transition to block style is extremely slow mainly because industry hasn't demanded a faster transition which is likely due to the higher cost of block style in this country. The wood industry is capable of providing both types in the US. (author's note: Block style requires many more cuts and different sized lumber than stringer style which raises cost).
bullet- The Grocery industry started with a performance standard after surveying their industry for size, shape, opening dimensions, load capacity and so on. The same approach is suggested for us. VTU can provide a survey format for us to use in similar fashion.
bullet- CHEP is in the process of changing the grocery industry to a block style pallet which is full perimeter bottom deck, wood, and weighs 74 pounds (33.6kg), 1.0x1.2m. They are currently testing prototypes.
bullet- UK uses full perimeter bottom on their block style pallets. The rest of Europe favors "uni-directional" style which has the short side open to the floor.
bullet- CEN standards currently acknowledge the 800x1200mm size but they are considering adding the 1000x1200mm size. This may take a couple more years. These are wood standards presently. The US can observe these activities but cannot vote (ref. TC51 committee).
bullet- 435-2-UIC is the European adoption of the original DIN standard (Germany) for all of Europe. This is the 800x1200 "Euro Pallet" which costs about $13-15 US. The 1000x1200mm size can be expected to cost $18-20 US.
bullet- ISO PC122 relates to banding / strapping.

8. Editorial Comments: Although we did not plan to get into specifics on design it appears that there is sufficient momentum in the world toward the 1.0x1.2m block style at least from a footprint and style standpoint. In the next few weeks it would be useful to check around in your respective areas of influence to see if this size and style would be best. Open questions such as full perimeter vs. uni-directional and the other performance requirements will be addressed in future meetings. When the survey forms from VTU come in, I'll get them out to each of you so that we can begin to collect that data.

9. Some Websites for your perusal (send others that you know of):

www.dicpallet.com (DIC Pallets, Japan)
www.nwpca.com (National Wood Pallet and Container Assoc.)
packaging.hp.com (HP's Packaging site)
www.ppsamericas.com/framepr.htm (Perstorp Plastic Systems)

Thank you for your participation. With your assistance, I am confident that we will be able to achieve our objectives. Looking forward to speaking with you again on Jan. 21, 1999 at 11am eastern time.

Warmest Personal Regards,

Bob Sanders
IBM Corporation
Worldwide Distribution Operations Support 3039 Cornwallis Road, VQZ-002
RTP, North Carolina, USA, 27709-2195
Phone: 919-543-1260, Fax: -4253 (IBM T/L: 441) email: btsander@us.ibm.com