Pallet optimisation for warehouse efficiency

But first, what is pallet optimisation?

What is pallet optimisation?

Pallet optimisation involves the planning and building of a pallet to ensure best use of the available pallet space, storage space and room for transportation.

Now that’s covered, let’s dive straight in.

The basics of pallet optimisation

For a strong foundation to your pallet optimisation, it’s important you opt for a consistent pallet size. When choosing the correct pallet size for your operations, you need to consider the size and shape of the cartons your products are packaged in. From there, one of the following standard pallet sizes should be selected:

• 1200 x 800mm
• 1000 x 1000mm
• 800 x 600mm

Reduce costs with pallet optimisation

Transportation isn’t free, and certainly not cheap. Whether you’re paying for shipping per individual pallet or number of trucks required on a daily basis, minimising the number of pallets used will help reduce costs significantly. But how is this achievable? This requires finding the correct balance of minimal and protective packaging to ensure a tightly packed pallet, while keeping the strength of individual cartons. 

Aside from the stacking of the pallet itself, you need to consider the packaging material used to secure it, Using the right stretch wrap for your packaging operations is crucial when it comes to reducing costs. For medium to large operations, machine applied stretch wrap offers maximum efficiency. Why? Increased productivity, plus reduced waste, equals money saved. It’s that simple.

Save time with pallet optimisation

The most time consuming part of the process involves loading the pallet. A common mistake that slows this activity down even further is trying to load several different cartons onto a single pallet - especially when trying to achieve a stable load that fills the pallet space effectively.

Faster pallet load times can be achieved simply by using the same size cartons. This will mean time is not wasted trying to work out where each individual carton should go for optimal pallet usage. Using the same size cartons will make the job a whole lot easier and provide consistency throughout each pallet.

Increased safety with pallet optimisation

The safety of workers must be top priority when it comes to pallet optimisation. Stacking cartons in an uncoordinated manner can result in an unstable load. This could lead to the entire pallet load falling, significantly increasing load times or worse, causing injury. By loading pallets in an organised manner and ensuring maximum stack height isn’t breached, there’s a lot less chance of any injury occurring.

Another way to reduce the risks of injury when optimising pallets is through the use of machine stretch wrap. Why? Applying hand applied stretch wrap can cause a lot of strain, especially when reaching for the lower half of the pallet. This can lead to back issues when applying this manually on a regular basis. In short, Introducing a stretch wrap machine takes the strain off of your warehouse operatives and reduces the risks of injury.

Conclusion

Ultimately, the quickest and most effective way to optimise your pallets for maximum warehouse efficiency is to work alongside an expert. At Swiftpak, we offer free, no obligation packaging audits and use our 40 years of experience to help you get the most from your packaging operations. If you’d like to find out more on what we can offer, speak to an expert today, we’d be happy to help.