Pallets are constructed of a variety of materials. The most commonly used material for pallets is timber, although pallets of other materials such as plastic, presswood, paper, and metal have become increasingly common as well. Technical improvements in pallets are shattering some of the long held generalizations such as plastic not being rackable, … [Read more...]
Working Safely with Pallets – Basic Steps
February 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Pallets have the potential to be implicated in a variety of injuries, from puncture wounds to sprained ankles. If used for a non-approved purpose, such as a man lift, the result could be tragic. With some 1.8 billion pallets in use across the United States, it serves material handlers to take some basic precautionary steps to avoid injury. Read … [Read more...]
Working Safely Around Pallets – An Introduction.
February 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Palletized handling and the barcode are often credited as having been the two key logistical breakthroughs of the 20th Century. By the 1940s, rail cars full of products that would previously take a few days to manually unload could be unloaded by pallet and forklift in just a few hours. Imagine the reduction in back and upper body … [Read more...]
Reusable Packaging: Customer Engagement Should Be Fresh & Easy
January 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Sure, customer engagement can be easier for a consumer product such as a reusable shopping bag than for reusable transport packaging, but how many examples do we see of accounts jumping ship because customers just aren't passionate about the product and the value proposition? It kills me when economists talk about pallets and reusable packaging … [Read more...]
Is Another Pallet Pool in the Offing?
January 6, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Bob Trebilcock of Modern Materials Handling has posted an introduction to the PIMS pallet pool. PIMS (http://www.pimspallet.com) would establish an independent, free market pallet pool to compete with leading rental providers CHEP, iGPS and PECO. Read more. … [Read more...]
Pallet Stretch Wrap Recycling: Take Your Plastic Recycling Program to the Next Level
December 26, 2010 By 2 Comments
Here at Packaging Revolution we are of course huge fans of reusable, and we welcome you to read our story on reusable unit load wrap and strap systems. Awhile back we also did a release on Pallet Wrapz. But let's face it, the lion's share of unit load stabilization for fast moving consumer goods is done with plastic stretch wrap. And while … [Read more...]
Reusable Containers: KNAPP Delivers Foldable Container Solution for REWE International
December 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment
The use of recyclable folding containers saves 1.5 million truck kilometres and thus annually 1.4 million kilograms of CO2 emissions at REWE Group. For return transport without goods, these folding containers need eight times less space than conventional ones, thus substantially reducing the traffic volume in Austria. So what made this … [Read more...]
PIMS – The New Pallet Industry Pallet Pool Initiative
December 7, 2010 By 1 Comment
PIMS, the new not-for-profit pallet pool organization formed by members of the U.S. pallet industry, has launched a website, www.pimspallet.com. The rationale behind the formation of this new pool is at least in part to address some of the key issues with the legacy white wood pool - quality defficiencies and pallet style. Increasingly, pallet … [Read more...]
Managing Returnable Assets in Motion – RFID for Returnable Transport Items (RTIs)
December 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Motorola has released a new white paper discussing the basics of open and closed loop reusable packaging systems, including elaboration on how an effective RFID approach can help reduce container loss, in addition to providing other benefits. RFID offers an affordable and efficient way to get more value from RTI inventories. "Picture this," … [Read more...]
Paper Pallets: We’re Not Out of the “Woods” Yet
December 2, 2010 By Leave a Comment
"We're not out of the woods yet," comments Sterling Anthony dryly in his column on paper pallets, which is to say that wood pallets still constitute roughly 90% of the market. Presenting this update on paper pallets, Anthony itemizes some of the competing pros and cons of wood, plastic and paper pallets. Readers may justifiably argue some of the … [Read more...]
