Then it hit me! I pictured being able to slice the pallet into thin, long pieces, about twelve inches deep and a standard 40 inches wide. These pieces would then connect to form a pallet that was a closer match to the dimensions needed to ship smaller size orders.

The more thought that went into it, the more the concept took shape. One could save money on shipping by using an adjustable sized pallet thus reducing the size of the “footprint”. Organization was another immediate benefit. Now we would not have to keep a stack of broken, mismatched wooden and plastic pallets around. I cannot tell you how many times the pallet that best matched what was needed was at the bottom of the stack! Also, the simplicity of the product energized me, because I pictured a whole shelf full of identical pallet blocks. A customer could just walk over to the shelf and take the amount of blocks they would need to make a custom pallet, easily and quickly! If the shipment is 20 inches long or 100 inches long, it does not matter, making a non-standard pallet would no longer be a problem.

So with my new idea, I approached my boss who later would become my business partner. Even then without any visual aids, it only took a few minutes before he saw this idea catch hold in his imagination. We had discussed going into business with each other and now we are working on this “Next Great Idea” together.

That was in 2009, now several designs and many hours behind us, we are moving forward with the Fast Lock Pallet.