Packaging Machinery - News, Technology and Reviews

Efficient delivery of product to the customer is of enormous importance. Most products use a pallet to ship product economically and efficiently.

The best pallet is not an easy decision to reach. The businessman must look at the pallet’s strength, stiffness, durability, functionality and cost.

• Strength means the pallet will be strong enough to carry the load through one or multiple shipments.
• Stiffness is the resistance to breaking or bending under loaded conditions.
• Durability is the pallet’s ability to withstand handling both before and during shipping.
• Functionality stresses heights between top and bottom decks, weight, deck friction, machine or manual handling and ability to protect the load during shipping.

Cost: Cost is not limited to actual material cost to make a pallet, but also the cost savings, of using less expensive components, such as fewer nails or lighter weight materials. Either case could result in accidental leaks or other damage to product. Cost is also a consideration when shipping to areas using the metric system, as measurements and weights vary between pallets.

Many European countries charge a disposal fee for in-coming non-standard pallets. In many cases in Europe, a reusable pallet in good condition will have a positive worth. A manufacturer of injection molded recycled polypropylene pallets in weights from 19 to 32 lbs., with floor load capacity up to 30,000 lbs. is American Pallet and Packaging, LLC out of Fargo, ND, USA. They offer export pallets in blue & green (FDA & USDA approved) and in black.

Pallets: The choices available in pallets range from economy, industrial, heavy duty, rackable and drum plastics, hardwood and pressed woods, and collapsible containers made from plastic, wire, wood and cardboard. Besides the basic pallet, consideration needs to be given to the need for protection of the corners of the load. One company offering a corner protector called VBoard is Laminations, a Great Northern Corporation. Corner protection of the pallet is important when stiffness is needed so the pallets can be stacked.

Equipment: PASCO Corporation offers several models of palletizers. Their Series 4,000 Drum Palletizer is capable of multiple patterns of drums & lugs at the rate of 12 to 18 per minute. Other machines include a pail and case palletizer, low-level bag palletizer and even Fanue 410iB robotic palletizer, which automatically stack bags, cases and pails. After the pallet is loaded it may be wise to use plastic stretch wrap to protect and stabilize it. Orion Packaging (Collierville, TN., USA) offers automatic, orbital and specialty stretch wrappers.