Pallet stability is key factor in your company’s operations
If your product is shipped to the customer or its final destination on a pallet, it is essential to ensure that the pallet is stable and that the products are securely packed to avoid damage to the goods and possible claims. EShipping and transporting pallets that are not stable enough can have costly consequences for the shipper.
It must be taken into account that unstable pallets can tip over, both during transport and during the loading and unloading of the goods. The company contracting the shipment is responsible for ensuring that its goods are correctly packed for loading, and would face serious consequences if an incident caused by unstable goods were to affect the safety and health of people.
Furthermore, even if the pallet does not tip over, there are more disadvantages to the pallet being unstable. mUnstable goods are more prone to damage during transport and during handling, during loading and unloading.
This type of incident can be very costly, as it leads to complaints and the rejection of goods that, if no agreement is reached with the customer, will have to be recovered or destroyed. Even in cases where the damage to the palletised product is minor and the damaged goods can be recovered and repacked, doing so involves a loss of time and high additional costs for the shipping company.
Furthermore, it should not be forgotten that the reputation of the brand can be compromised by this type of incident, and the relationship with customers can be affected. In these cases, customers not only receive defective goods, but also, when the damaged material has to be replaced, they may not receive their order on time.
How can the stability of pallets be improved?
Pallet stability is essential for efficient packaging, as well as to avoid movement problems during handling and transport, which can result in expensive incidents. However, there are some very simple and effective products that you can incorporate into your packaging operations.
Palletising corner protectors
The cardboard corner boards offer reinforcement to palletised loads, increasing their stability, avoiding damage to the corners of the pallet, and protecting the palletised goods during handling, transport and storage.
In order to contribute optimally to the stabilisation of the pallet, the corner piece should cover at least from the middle of the pallet block to the middle of the box or container located in the last row of the pallet..
These measurements will determine the length of the corner piece. When selecting the most suitable corner piece, it must also be taken into account that the edge board must have a side and a thickness adapted to the weight of the pallet, which has to be sufficient to resist comfortably when it is tilted during the loading and unloading process.
Cardboard anti-slip pallet separators.
The corrugated cardboard separators with anti-slip treatment, used as a separator between layers of palletised goods, help to prevent load movement and increase the stabilisation of the pallet as a whole.
Anti-slip spacers are a key product to stabilise pallets. They are especially necessary when the pallets contain goods such as liquids, unstable goods or delicate products.
Filming and strapping of pallets
Using the right film and strapping to pack the pallets is essential and makes the pallets safe and stable. The choice of film will depend not only on the type of palletised product to be packed, but also on the type of film used to minimise the use of plastic by determining the smallest possible amount of film that will maintain the stability of the palletised goods.
Sometimes a pallet that needs to be tightly wrapped with film or strapping will also be protected with cardboard corner protectors to spread the pressure of both film and strapping, and to protect the pallet’s corners..
Furthermore, the corner protectors hold the load in place, so that sometimes sufficient securing is achieved by combining corner protectors with strapping, without the need to use plastic film.
Experts in packaging for pallet stabilisation
For 30 years, Transpack Group has been manufacturing cantonboard packaging and other cardboard packaging for palletising, with the aim of helping its customers to improve the stability and protection of their palletised goods.
Pallet stabilisation is a critical element in the movement of goods, and doing it correctly not only minimises damage to palletised goods during transport, but also reduces or eliminates incidents and complaints.
At Transpack Group we have a range of simple, but custom-designed solutions to improve the stability of pallets during palletising, whether it is a manual or automated system at the end of the line.