Latest / The Productivity Podcast with Fexingo: Output, Efficiency, and Long-Term Economic Growth
How Standardized Pallets Built Modern Supply Chains
We trace the invisible architecture of global commerce: the standardized pallet. Before the GMA standard took hold in the nineteen-fifties, warehouses were chaotic labyrinths of mismatched crates and manual labor. This episode explores how a simple wooden square revolutionized handling efficiency, slashed labor costs by nearly half, and enabled the rise of just-in-time inventory. We look at the specific economic data from the post-war era, the resistance from traditional stevedores, and why this unglamorous piece of wood is still the backbone of logistics today. It is a story about how…
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