Lehi
In 2013 about one in 14 of the world's flash memory chips were made in Lehi, and Texas Instruments agreed to buy the plant in 2021. The city is also home to Silicon Slopes offices from Adobe, Ancestry, Vivint and Purple Innovation. Chips and devices are light; they ship in cartons that need a stable platform, not heavy-duty skids.
What matters to this buyer
| Need | Why | Page |
|---|---|---|
| New lumber | No contamination, no history | New pallets |
| Heat treatment | Overseas customers need the IPPC mark | Heat-treated |
| Custom footprint | Devices rarely fit 48 x 40 neatly | Custom |
| Small batches | Weekly or monthly, not trailers | Truckload orders |
Wood packaging for Canada
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency currently exempts continental U.S. wood packaging, pending a phased move to full ISPM 15. For the stamp decoded, read reading the HT stamp.
Cleanliness and traceability
Devices that ship in sealed cartons are less exposed than loose goods, but their buyers still check outer packaging. A pallet with a sharp nail or a stain can draw a complaint even when the product inside is perfect. For this reason many makers choose new or heat-treated stock and ask that it arrive wrapped.
- Say whether pallets must be wrapped or covered in transit.
- Say whether a pallet may carry a printed label.
- Say whether the stock must be traceable to a batch.
- Say if the export market has its own rules.
Small lots, steady rhythm
A device maker's pallet order is a few dozen at a time, not a few hundred. That shape suits new stock built to a fixed spec, because the pallets can be made in one batch and held. Say how many you use in a month, how long you can hold stock, and whether your space allows a full stack on site.
- Monthly use, even if irregular.
- Storage space on site.
- Whether deliveries must be on appointment.
- Whether an export customer demands a mark.
What fits in an ocean container
A 40-foot ISO container holds 20 pallets of 1,016 x 1,219 mm (40 x 48 inches) and wastes 3.7 percent of its floor. A 1,067 x 1,067 mm (42 x 42 inch) pallet wastes 11.5 percent and an 800 x 1,200 mm pallet 15.2 percent. For a shipper moving small, dense devices overseas, the footprint changes the freight bill.