Pallets: How to choose the right pallet for the job
Selecting the best pallet for the task
Material handling and logistics may not be the most glamorous side of business but it's one area where hard-won margins can be easily lost through negligence and mismanagement. If you are treating pallets as just another line item expense, you could be eroding your company's margins. Here's why...
Packaging, wood pallets and material handling equipment (MHE) must work together in order to keep product moving down the pipeline.
While the marketing and R&D department will work closely with engineers to design the packaging, and MHE designers create detailed requirements, the pallet rarely receives more than a couple of lines in the spec. That's a big mistake when you consider how important the wooden pallet is to the mission.
Among the 450 million pallets manufactured in North America annually, the 48x40" GMA or grocery pallet is the workhorse of the logistics industry. Other sizes and designs exist for other uses such as shipping 55 gal drums, paint cans, electronics and telecommunications equipment.
The two major pallet designs used in North America are the "block" and the "stringer". The stringer style costs less to build than the block style does, but it is weaker as well.
Despite the cost, the block pallet is more suitable for a wide variety of handling environments because it provides fork and jack access on all 4 sides, while stringer pallets only allow partial 4-way access if the stringers are notched. Otherwise they can only be accessed at either end and are called "2-way". Additionally, how the pallets is transported in-house can play into the selection process. For example, if the pallet is to travel along a conveyor system , or some other specialized delivery system, this may need to be taken into consideration.
Wooden Pallet Selection: how to choose the right design and size
There are 4 essential properties to consider when purchasing pallets. These properties all join together to create the 5th property, the price.
Important Pallet Characteristics:
- Strength
- Stiffness
- Durability
- Functionality
- Price
- Pallet Strength
The term strength is applied to the load bearing capacity of the pallet. It is essential that the selected pallet be capable of supporting the weight of the materials that will be shipped.
Stiffness
Stiffness is an often overlooked property that impacts safety, easy of handling, and shipping-related damage claims. The term refers to the pallet's ability to resist bending, collapsing, concaving, or otherwise changing shape while under load or movement. Stiffness is an essential partner to strength. While a particular pallet may be strong enough to support the required load, if it is not stiff enough then it could affect material handling efforts or the safety and security of the materials being shipped including cracking or internal damage.
Pallet Durability
Durability applies to the ability to withstand the shipping and handling process. If the pallet is for one-time use then this property is not as important.
Functionality
Functionality is a property which requires close scrutiny. It refers to the pallets compatibility with the packaging and MHE that it will come in contact with.
The term "compatibility" is a complex one that changes along with the material being shipped, its destination and a host of other environmental and market-related conditions. For example, pallets destined for overseas locations will need to be ISPM 15 compliant as far as resistance to pests are concerned.
Price
All of the above properties ultimately affect the price. Price is at the bottom of the list of properties because, although it is not usually the least of the factors controlling the buying decision, it's the one factor that should not be used as the starting point. If you set a pallet price, and then try to back into the specifications from there, you will most likely end up with a materials handling failure that will cost you a lot more money that you had planned on saving.
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