If You Build It, Will They Come? Smart Pallets and theier Slow March Toward Supply Chain Transformation

In the 1989 film Field of Dreams, a quiet voice whispers a simple promise: If you build it, they will come. It is a line that has echoed for decades in innovation culture, often invoked to suggest that the mere existence of new technology will inevitably create its own demand.

Yet in the world of pallets, that promise has proven far more complicated.

Forklifts have become software-defined machines. Cars are rolling computers. Coffee makers connect to Wi-Fi. Phones evolve yearly into more powerful digital platforms. Meanwhile, the shipping pallet, arguably the most ubiquitous material handling platform on earth, remains overwhelmingly analog. Wood pallets without sensors, chips, or connectivity still dominate global supply chains.

Smart pallets exist. They have existed for multiple decades. But they remain the exception rather than the rule, despite their gradual uptake in proprietary and closed-loop returnable pallet programs.

That contrast raises an intriguing question: is the pallet uniquely resistant to becoming “smart,” or is it following a slower, more pragmatic digital path that looks different from consumer electronics and high-value industrial assets?

Where Smart Pallets Have Taken Hold

There are notable success stories.

iGPS operates a pooled plastic pallet fleet equipped with embedded RFID tags, enabling asset identification, tracking, and data collection at scale. The model works because iGPS controls the pallets, manages the network, and captures value from improved visibility and reduced loss.

Japan Pallet Rental (JPR) has built one of the world’s most sophisticated pallet pooling and tracking systems, using RFID and networked infrastructure to support high-density retail and manufacturing logistics across Japan. JPR’s success is rooted in tight supply chain coordination, standardized pallet specifications, and widespread retailer participation.

In Europe, the European Pallet Association (EPAL) has introduced QR codes on pallets as part of a broader digital initiative. These codes do not turn pallets into sensor-rich devices, but they enable basic identification, authenticity checks, and links to digital records.

All three examples share something important: a managed system. Smart functionality works best when pallets are part of controlled pools or standardized networks rather than fragmented, one-off assets.

That distinction matters. And it explains why smaller, controlled pallet systems such as at Avery Dennison in Europe, have been easier to convert.

Why Most Pallets Stay “Dumb”

Wood pallets are relatively inexpensive, rugged, and too often viewed as semi-disposable. They are repaired, traded, resold, and reused across loosely connected supply chains. Ownership frequently changes. Responsibility is diffuse.

Adding electronics complicates the procurement equation. Even small cost increases are magnified in high-volume environments. Electronics must survive impacts, moisture, dirt, and rough handling. Perhaps most importantly, return on investment is often unclear. Who pays for the technology, and who benefits from the data?

Packagingrevolution.net has frequently explored this dynamic. Articles examining sensor-enabled reusable packaging and connected pallets point out that technology alone does not create value. Value emerges when pallet buyers trust that the data will address a clearly defined business problem, such as reducing shrinkage, improving turnaround time, or enabling automation.

Without a compelling business case, smart pallets unfortunately remain a solution in search of a problem.

A Useful Parallel: Forklifts

Forklifts offer a revealing comparison.

Forkliftrevolution.net has documented how telematics adoption did not happen overnight. Early systems focused on basic location tracking and hour meters, and many operations ignored them. Over time, telematics evolved into platforms that deliver actionable insights, including impact detection, battery health monitoring, operator behavior analysis, maintenance forecasting, and energy optimization.

The tipping point came when data began directly supporting uptime, safety, and cost reduction.

Smart pallets are still earlier in that curve. Most current pallet technologies focus on identification rather than intelligence. RFID or QR codes tell you what a pallet is, not necessarily what is happening to it or what decision should be made next. The leap from identification to actionable insight is significant.

Are Pallets Truly Unique?

Not entirely.

Many low-cost, high-volume industrial assets remain largely analog today, including dunnage, slip sheets, intermediate containers used in closed loops, and returnable trays and racks operating in fragmented networks. These products share many of the same characteristics as pallets: low unit cost, high circulation, and diffuse ownership.

Digitization tends to appear first where asset value is high, loss rates are painful, and material flows are repeatable and controlled. Pallets often meet only one of those three conditions.

That does not mean pallets are immune to becoming smart. It means they will become smart selectively.

The Quiet Rise of “Good Enough” Smart

Rather than embedding expensive sensors into every pallet, the market appears to be favoring lighter-touch approaches. Printed or molded-in codes, passive RFID, dock-door scanning, and vision systems that automatically identify pallets are gaining traction. At the same time, software layers increasingly infer movement and status from surrounding infrastructure rather than from sensors embedded in the pallet itself.

In other words, intelligence is shifting toward the environment around the pallet rather than residing solely in the pallet.

This mirrors trends in warehouses where fixed scanners, cameras, and software platforms track assets without requiring each item to carry its own active device. It represents a subtler form of smart.

What to Expect Next

Several developments could accelerate adoption:

Cheaper electronics – As sensor and chip costs continue to fall, economics improve.

Stronger regulation and compliance pressure – Traceability requirements could make basic identification mandatory in some sectors.

Growth of pallet pooling and managed networks – Controlled systems make ROI clearer.

Integration with automation – Automated warehouses benefit from consistent, machine-readable pallets.

But it is unlikely that every wood pallet will suddenly become a connected device.

More plausible is a layered future:

Premium pallets in closed loops carry embedded intelligence.

Open-loop pallets rely on printed IDs and environmental scanning.

Software systems stitch together partial data into usable insights.

The Real Lesson of Field of Dreams

For pallets, building it has never been the hard part. Prototypes, pilots, and clever hardware designs already exist.

What has been missing is alignment between cost and perceived value, and between data collection, data ownership, and decision-making.

Ultimately, smart pallets are waiting for business models that are designed with reuse in mind, and business models that embrace their value.

When those conditions come together, they will not need a whisper in a cornfield. They will arrive quietly, pragmatically, and in pockets, just like most industrial revolutions actually do.