Why palletize? The palletization of goods provides many benefits for supply chain operations.
Move one box at a time or up to one hundred? Pallets were largely accepted as one of the two greatest material handling innovations of the Twentieth Century, along with the barcode. However, while the use of pallets and the palletization of materials were once considered powerful components of materials handling strategy, today, the industry takes the practice largely for granted. In this article, we reconsider why pallet usage and palletization are so critical for material handling and supply chains.
What Is Palletization?
Palletization (or palletisation in UK usage) refers to the process of placing goods or materials, either packaged or bulk, onto pallets. The pallet provides a base for the goods and materials, thereby promoting the efficient storage, handling and transport of the pallet, its load and containment technologies such as stretch wrap or strapping, etc., referred to in aggregate as the unit load.
When the palletization concept was first introduced, it had a dramatic impact on improving material handling efficiency. Rail cars that had taken two days to unload could subsequently be unloaded in just one or two hours. You can read more about the history of pallets in our dedicated section.
8 Crucial Benefits of Palletization
Then as now, the use of pallets as a base for unit loads offers a number of benefits versus unpalletized handling that result from the more efficient handling of goods. These include:
- Faster unloading and loading, resulting in the faster turnaround of delivery vehicle and greater transport equipment efficiency
- Quicker availability of the trailer door for the next arrival
- Dramatically reduced labor requirement versus manual handling
- Reduced risk of temperature abuse for perishable products that can be moved more rapidly across unrefrigerated docks
- Less risk of product damage
- Reduced risk of worker repetitive stress injuries
- More efficient material handling and storage, better optimization of cube utilization in transportation and storage
- Standard-sized pallets can optimize operations across supply chains, offering greater flexibility and ensuring compatibility
Pallet Ti Hi and Pallet Configuration
When goods are placed on top of pallets, the containers are typically organized into a Ti Hi, which refers to the Ti (the number of boxes per layer) and Hi (the number of layers).
So a 7 x 5 Ti Hi refers to a palletized load with 7 containers per layer, with a height of 5 layers. Pallet configuration refers to the way containers are placed on the pallet. Column-stacked products are piled directly on top of the product below. Because boxes have the most strength in their corners, this approach provides greater resistance to box deformation than brick or interlocking pallet patterns.
Interlocking pallet patterns, however, are associated with greater unit load stability and bridging strength. According to research, an interlocking pallet pattern can reduce pallet deflection by up to 53%. The following video explores some of the issues pertaining to pallet patterns.
Approaches to Palletization
There are four basic approaches to palletization: manual palletization, semi-automated palletization, automated palletization and robotic palletization.
Manual palletization involves placing items on a pallet using manual force. For example, a worker may lift boxes coming off of an assembly line conveyor and stack them onto a pallet, or if the employee is selecting an order for a customer using a pallet placed on a pallet jack, he or she may remove boxes as required from several pallets to put on the pallet being built for the order.
Cartons are manually slid to form a layer without lifting or walking around the pallet in semi-automated palletization. Once a layer is formed, the operator presses the start button and the layer is palletized automatically.
An automated palletizer is a machine that takes containers from the end of a conveyor and assembles them into a prescribed pattern for forming layers. The layers are then built onto a pallet to create a unit load.
Increasingly popular robotic palletizers utilize a robot to place individual cases or layers onto a pallet. They provide great flexibility and the capability of palletizing multiple SKUs and package sizes onto the same pallet. Robotic solutions are becoming increasingly popular. They also ease the burden on workers by removing the need to lift heavy objects like HVAC equipment, home appliances, and even industrial packages. Robotic solutions reduce injury, never get tired and can work around the clock.
The Benefits of Palletless Handling
In spite of the benefits of palletization, pallets are sometimes considered a technology to avoid. Purchasing them is a direct cost, and indirectly, the weight and space displacement of pallets can redice the amount of goods that could be otherwise shipped, leading to higher transportation costs. That trend continues to be explored, although it is not new, as is witnessed from the magazine ad shown from the 1950s below, which promoted palletless handling. For the most part, however, pallets continue to be embraced as a key component of modern supply chains.
Why Use Pallets: Conclusion
The introduction of pallets and palletized loads instead of handling each carton or unit dramatically decreased the number of physical product touches. It led to major reductions in staffing requirements, fewer injuries, less product damage, and faster, more efficient supply chains. As supply chains push for even greater optimization, however, participants sometimes look at the weight of the pallet and the space it takes as fresh opportunities to exploit through pallet innovation or elimination. For the most part, however, modern supply chains continue to profoundly benefit from palletized handling.
Further Reading
What Is a Pallet?
Plastic Pallet Buyers Guide
Paper Pallet Buyers Guide
Rick LeBlanc, EMBA, is the founder and editor of Reusable Packaging News (subscribe to the free newsletter) and editor of Western Pallet Magazine. A supply chain journalist with more than 30 years of experience, he specializes in pallets, reusable packaging, material handling and related operations. Rick is co-author of Pallets: A North American Perspective and Pallets & Progress: A Collected History of Pallets and Palletized Handling 1922–1945. He is also an advisory board member of the Virginia Tech Center for Packaging and Unit Load Design. Read Rick’s full bio.
