You might think that our economy is built entirely on pallets. There is hardly a company that does not work with the flat constructions. Once pallets become scarce, real hardship breaks out for many companies, as recent examples show.

At first glance, handling pallets is not easy. A mistake can not only bring work processes to a standstill, but also damage our high-quality packaging cartons including the contents. We have therefore prepared an introduction to palletizing.

What is the goal of palletizing?

Without pallets, warehouses and logistics companies would not be able to work nearly as efficiently as we know it from our current society. Processes around raw materials, intermediate products and goods would take much longer in the economy, with far fewer products being able to be moved from A to B at the same time.

Pallets therefore contribute above all to efficiency and time savings. To this end, they are loaded evenly by employees or machines and the load is then secured, if there is a need to do so. Such a load unit (i.e. the pallet loaded with goods) can be easily moved by machines, such as a forklift truck.

This allows large quantities of goods to be moved quickly. Thanks to their simple shape, they fit perfectly into the holds of trucks and containers, where they are stacked closely next to each other or even on top of each other. Palletizing should only be left to trained employees, unless the task can basically be handed over to palletizing robots or systems.

Pallets can only develop their great strengths if they are loaded properly. The main thing here is not to exceed the maximum permissible loading weight.

Such weight limits exist both for the entire structure and for selective points. But the individual packages and goods must also be packed onto the pallet according to a well thought-out concept.

Those who do not proceed carefully with this task risk occupational accidents and damage during transport. New employees in the company whose task is palletizing must therefore be thoroughly familiarized and trained.

Palletizing saves companies time and money. However, errors in loading the structure can lead to accidents and transport damage.

Palletizing is relevant for these companies

Palletizing is a topic for almost all industries. Every company that produces something itself and ships it to customers needs the tools for transport. There are exceptions for industries that produce particularly large products for which standard pallets are no longer available.

Intermediaries and suppliers are also involved in palletizing. The industries that hardly use pallets are in sectors such as services or education. Supermarkets also deal with pallets, but they are mainly involved in unloading the load units instead of packing them.

The goods are removed from the constructions packed especially for them and placed on the shelves. The stores then send the pallets back to the warehouse or the logistics provider.

Discounters often also place their products on the pallets on the sales floor. Not having to unload saves some time in the operating process and can thus help keep product prices down.

Various pallets at a glance

Different types of pallets help to pack the boxes optimally. 

The typical pallet is made of wood and offers a loading area of about one meter. However, there are many different constructions that you should know about if you are interested in safe palletizing.

One of the most important distinctions the transport industry makes is between disposable and reusable pallets. As the name suggests, the former are not particularly durable and are mainly made for a single transport. They are made of rather thin materials and therefore break quickly.

We know from the beverage industry that reusable products have some advantages compared to disposables. The most important advantage is that they are reusable and thus save costs and resources. Unlike disposable pallets, reusable pallets also do not have to be disposed of after acceptance. Accordingly, they cause less waste.

For pallets, the material also plays an important role. Besides wood, there are also pallets made of plastic, corrugated cardboard and metals such as steel. Each material has its own advantages and disadvantages. A construction made of corrugated cardboard should not get wet and is only suitable for single use.

However, it has the advantage of being particularly light. Steel pallets are significantly heavier, but they are valuable when fire protection requirements are high. Plastic is light and stable, but there are trade-offs in terms of sustainability.

To simplify transportation, there are even standardized pallets. The most important pallet in Europe is the Euro pallet, also known as the Europool pallet. It is marked according to the EN 13698 standard, and it is always a flat pallet made of wood.

The standard Euro pallet has the dimensions 1200 × 800 × 144 mm (L×W×H) and thus offers a base area of 0.96 sqm. Its own weight is between 20 and 24 kg, depending on the moisture content. In return, it can carry loads of up to 1500 kg.

The main palletizing techniques

Let's assume you want to load a pallet properly. How do you go about it? First, you select a suitable pallet for the application, for example a standard Euro pallet. There are then two points to which you must pay particular attention:

1. Distribution of goods
2. Securing the goods

When distributing the goods, the aim is to make optimum use of the available space on the pallet. Companies that don't want to leave it up to chance use crates and boxes matched to the euro measure for this purpose.

With these, they can prevent expensive cargo space from remaining empty or the load from extending beyond the edge of the pallet. You should avoid both at all costs if you want to pack the pallet masterfully. In many cases, however, standardized cartons are not available.

Then it is not excluded that empty spaces on the loading area remain free. In some cases, protruding cartons are also allowed. To make the best use of the available space, it is possible to use software solutions. These can make loading easier.

Not only the utilization of the available space is important when distributing the goods, but also the thoughtful distribution of the weight. If possible, the heaviest boxes should always be at the bottom of the pallet, while the light and fragile goods go to the top.

The service life of the pallet can also be increased if the weight is not concentrated in just one place on the pallet. One-sided centers of gravity can interfere during transport and even be a source of danger.

If you want to create a particularly high level of stability on the loading unit, you should not stack columns but create a composite like a brick wall. This stabilizes itself.

Other aids are used to secure the goods. Stretch film can be used to wrap the entire load unit, which means that small goods in particular remain in their intended place on their pallet.

For larger goods, on the other hand, strapping and lashing straps are recommended. Foil and straps can also be combined. There are some other tools for securing goods on pallets, for example:

• Edge protection
• Pallet hats
• Anti-slip mats
• dunnage bags
• Covering foils
• Anti-corrosion paper
• Desiccant bag
• Foam interlayers
• Cushion

During professional palletizing, the load is first evenly distributed and then secured. There are numerous aids for securing pallets.

Palletizing: Manual or automatic?

In many companies, palletizing is still deliberately done by hand. If the purchase of a system for this work is not worthwhile, the method is the only way to load pallets safely. For many companies, however, it is not possible to do without an automatic solution.

With these, such large quantities of pallets are loaded day after day that it would not be economical to pack them by hand. There are three types of automatic palletizers:

1. Palletizing robots: They are programmable and often only perform partial tasks during palletizing.
2. Layer palletizers: They pack individual layers together and then place them on the pallet.
3. Palletizing stations:These systems are capable of loading entire pallets fully automatically.

Conclusion: Trained employees master palletizing perfectly

Palletizing is a job that involves loading pallets. Many industries can nolonger do without them , because without pallets the economy would quickly come to a standstill. So it's good that pallets come in such an overwhelming variety.

In addition to disposable and reusable pallets, there are, for example, constructions made of many different materials as well as standardized pallets. However, to avoid accidents or damage during loading and transport, it is essential to rely only on trained employees.

FAQ

1. How are pallets disposed of?

   The disposal depends on the material of the pallet. Wooden pallets, for example, are placed in the bulky waste or taken to the recycling center.

   By the way: Many pallets do not even have to be disposed of. Especially the reusable pallets can often still be repaired. However, you should proceed professionally and adhere to the standard, provided that it is a standardized pallet.

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