Houston, TX – 48forty Solutions, a leading national provider of recycled pallets and pallet management services, today announced that it had acquired Florida-based software company Innovative Data Systems (IDS), Inc. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. 48forty is a portfolio company of Audax Private Equity and Summit Partners.
IDS was founded in June 1997 by Alan Miceli and Pallets-R-Us owner Thomas Sorge. Motivated by a need for their own pallet operations business, Alan and Thomas set out to create the first-ever barcode-based tracking system for pallet repair lines. This software is widely used in the pallet industry today and is lauded as one of the most innovative solutions and a game-changer for many pallet recyclers. With over 30 years in the pallet business and an in-depth understanding of customer needs, Alan and his team developed real-world solutions to meet them.
One such solution was the Pallet-Track® Suite, a line of software products designed to provide turnkey solutions with ERP, Plant Floor data collection, Inventory adjustment, compensation, trailer tracking, electronic BOLs, and more. IDS’ primary goal is to help pallet companies and sawmills gain control of their business and finances.
“Investing in and improving this important technology, which is vital to our industry, is one of the key drivers for this acquisition,” said Mike Hachtman, CEO of 48forty. “Not only will 48forty benefit from using the tool, but so will existing and future customers. As our industry grows and pivots to meet additional demands, this best-in-class software will be critical in supporting complex manufacturing environments associated with recycled, new, and custom pallets.”
“Being acquired by 48forty is a monumental step in improving our software platform Pallet-Track® for our customers,” added Alan Miceli, President, Innovative Data Systems. “We have an opportunity to invest in, grow, and enhance our products and services for the pallet industry, which has been the key driver in the success of IDS and Pallet-Track®. Our joint commitment to improving Pallet-Track® enables us to serve customers with this great product forever.”
48forty Solutions also recently announced the acquisition of Pallet-Ops and CALco.
ABOUT 48forty Solutions
48forty Solutions is one of the largest pallet management services companies in North America, with a national network of over 245 facilities, including 68 company-owned and operated pallet recycling plants, 160 onsite locations, 11 reverse logistics centers, 5 sorting centers, and more than 850 service providers. 48forty provides end-to-end pallet solutions from supply to retrieval, recycled, new, and custom pallets, and reverse logistics services. We also operate one of the nation’s largest private fleets of more than 7,500 trailers and 500 tractors. 48forty is backed by Summit Partners and Audax Private Equity. For more information, visit 48forty.com.
ABOUT Innovative Data Systems, Inc.
IDS was founded in June 1997 by Alan Miceli and Pallets-R-Us owner Thomas Sorge. With over 30 years in the pallet business and an in-depth understanding of customer needs, Alan Miceli and his team developed real-world solutions to meet them. Pallet-Track® Suite, a line of software products, was designed to provide turnkey solutions with ERP, Plant Floor data collection, Inventory adjustment, compensation, trailer tracking, electronic BOLs, and more. IDS’ primary goal is to help pallet companies and sawmills gain control of their business and finances. For more information visit www.pallettrack.com.