The Company
Brunswick Box Company, Inc. (BBC) is one of Virginia’s largest manufacturers and distributors of quality wood pallet and specialty wood products. They are a Lawrenceville, VA based manufacturer with an approximate employment of 75. BBC serves the following business segments: U.S. Government, tier-1 government contractors, soft drink & beverage, building materials, textile, pharmaceutical, and health care among others.

The Problem
BBC has a pallet application for a major U. S. Government ammunition supplier that requires a re-enforcement pad be placed on the six end sections of their pallet to prevent damage during the handling and distribution cycle. The pallet’s component material is solid, oak wood. One truss plate is to be assembled to the outside end of each of the six, end blocks. The re-enforcement component to be installed was identified as a 3"x 5" truss plate. Prior to this design, pallets were undergoing premature failures due to severe handling thus increasing costs for the end customer.

When a potential solution was first outlined and prototyped, BBC on their own employed a hammer to manually install the truss plates, one at a time. Once the idea was proven to reinforce the pallet system, an automated system was desired for efficiency. However, no suitable system was available on the open market and management then looked to outsource for assistance.

Virginia's Philpott Manufacturing Extension Partnership (VPMEP) learned of BBC’s need for a customized solution. VPMEP sought the expertise from the Technology Applications Center (TAC). TAC is VPMEP’s service delivery partner responsible for manufacturers in the Tidewater region, and is based at Old Dominion University (ODU).

The Response
The challenge as presented to TAC, was to design and build an automated fixture allowing for the assembly of all six-truss plates to the solid oak pallet end blocks. This fixture needed to facilitate the loading of all six plates through an automated cycle. The fixture also needed flexibility to handle five unique pallet sizes with quick change over features. Fixture design parameters were based on tests performed on a pallet and truss plate sample supplied by BBC at TAC and Old Dominion University.

The assembly fixture incorporated the following:

• Capability of simultaneous assembly of six truss plates to oak pallet end blocks
• Single point of operation
• Fixture fabricated with steel components sized for commercial usage

The Results
The fixture that TAC designed met each and every design parameter requested. The cycle time needed to install all six "plates" was under one minute. The change over time from one pallet to another can be accomplished in less than five minutes. Upon completion and incorporation into the build cycle, these "plates" added strength to the pallet system to prevent damage due to rugged handling conditions. Ultimately the end customer benefits a real cost reduction by eliminating the need to replace pallets, which had previously underwent premature failures due to severe handling.

Management’s Comment
Mark P. Lucy, Plant Manager states:
"We had used VPMEP for other projects in the past, so when this project came up they were the first group we contacted. VPMEP in concert with TAC did a very professional job from the early planning stages through the final testing. They stayed in touch with us about all of the details. TAC has professionally constructed a logically designed machine. It is the machine our customer needed to solve their material handling problem. Since putting this machine in the operation, Brunswick Box Co., Inc. has been able to streamline its production of these pallets and therefore reduce our labor costs and provide our customer with a better product."

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