Most packaging and material handling professionals understand that, under other conditions, the combined pallet load is more effective to stabilize and protect the load than when the load is not fixed on the pallet as a single unit. But because each company, facility, packaging line, and budget is different, the decision to unify pallet loading or allow products to be placed on pallets without restrictions usually depends on a series of pros and cons. Safety, speed, labor demand, the value and nature of the load, and cost top the list. Decisions to use stretch wrappers to automate the assembly process or require workers to perform tasks manually also involve similar balancing behaviors.

Advantages of combined pallet loading

Every manager in charge of warehousing and delivery is afraid of receiving calls or messages that pallet loads are dumped from forklifts, workers are injured, and/or cleanup work will be delayed for several days. Managers are also afraid that customers will refuse to accept calls or messages for delivery because the product is damaged in transit. For example, an entire order of stainless steel parts may become useless due to scratches or wear, or contamination caused by contact with metal strips. This kind of rejected pallet loading can cost tens of thousands of dollars, plus the time and cost of rework orders. No truck driver is willing to handle spills from pallet bulk bags torn and slipping off the pallet.

These types of problems often occur when the goods are changed during transportation, the plastic film is torn, or the cardboard that uses strapping or strapping is torn apart. In some cases, the entire stack of cartons may slip off the pallet and tip over. By wrapping the plastic film 360 degrees under and around the pallet and the goods, the goods are fixed on the pallet as a whole, thereby eliminating the worry of slipping off the pallet during transportation. It also improves storage security. By eliminating load transfer, combined loads are safer, easier to put in and out of warehouse shelves, and they can be placed on elevated shelves without worrying about dumping.

When delivering various parts or other items of different sizes, shapes, and weights (such as parts kits), many companies usually put the items together in a box with cushions, and then put these boxes on a pallet for packaging. However, by wrapping all the different components as a whole load on the pallet, cartons and cushions can be eliminated. The compressive force provided by wrapping the entire pallet load in plastic overcomes any spaces or gaps between long and short products or between tall and short products.

However, many popular stretch packaging machines wrap the product or load on itself instead of on the pallet, providing a false sense of security. For example, horizontal turntable packaging machines and straddle packaging machines wrap the stretch film laterally around the load, relying on the weight of the load to keep it in place on the pallet when it moves. These can handle heavy cartons of the same size and weight well, but because they handle four of the six sides of the pallet load, they cannot establish a uniform pallet load, making the load affected by the above-mentioned movement. Stretch hood wrappers apply plastic film from above the load to handle five of the six sides of the pallet load-an improvement, but it still does not secure the load to the pallet and establish a combined load.

All these types of machines apply the film on the vertical axis. All these types of machines apply the film on the vertical axis. Packaging on the vertical axis limits the type and size of products or loads that can be packed into a standard pallet footprint. In contrast, the orbital stretch packaging machine applies the film on the horizontal axis. This is an advancement that allows the film to be applied 360 degrees around and below the tray and load to create a combined load. This means that the type and size of the product or load that can be wrapped is only limited by the diameter of the wrapping ring. In theory, the orbital packaging machine can pack long products such as tubes and bars indefinitely, uninterruptedly, and forever.

It is entirely possible to manually create a unitized pallet load without any machinery. In fact, many companies that use automatic wrappers start with manual packaging. This process usually requires lifting the pallet load on a forklift because two workers wrap the film around the pallet and the load, passing the rolls back and forth, while being careful not to hit their heads under the pallet or scratch their arms on the load. Although it is technically a whole load, the quality of the package depends on the skills, experience and commitment of the workers on any given day. Many people use excess film-just in case-to increase confidence in packaging. Inconsistency from one load to the next is the rule. 

In recent years, packaging quality and safety issues have often aroused people's interest in automatic stretch packaging. Today, companies are re-examining their reliance on staffing as a potential solution to quality and safety issues. The latest automatic and semi-automatic orbital stretch packaging machines enable one worker to manage the entire packaging process and combine a pallet load within 15 seconds to provide consistent, safe, and high-quality packaging every time. A track packing machine allows the forklift driver to operate the machine via wireless remote control on the forklift seat. For companies that need to implement social distancing and/or focus on staffing in the era of lockdown and quarantine, automated packaging and packaging processes can give you peace of mind and significant cost savings. 

Andy Brizek is the vice president of sales and marketing for TAB Industries LLC in Reading, Pennsylvania, the manufacturer of TAB Wrapper Tornado. The company invented the concept of wrapping pallet goods 360 degrees around and below the pallet. For more information, please visit Tabwrapper.com. 

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