Your Distribution Center Can Build the Best Pallets In The World
I heard an interesting story today about pallets recently. A client builds mixed case pallets and ship them to their customers. As a quality control measure, the initials of the person who constructs the pallet are attached in the event of any problems, comments, or concerns.
A few months ago one of their customers called raving about how good a job “A.C.P” was doing at constructing their pallets. “A.C.P.” made the best pallet, and all the other workers should emulate them.
That’s when the customer learned that “A.C.P.” wasn’t a person’s initials, but stood for Automated Case Picker.
The point is that better pallets seem like a small thing, but when you think about it there are a lot of advantages to having better made pallets.
By making more efficient pallets, you use fewer pallets. This translates into more time building pallets vs. switching them out, which has a positive effect on throughput and on labor savings.
Better pallets means you also spend less money in transportation. You are shipping more products and less air (empty space). Your cube utilization improves, so less trucks on the road and less money in gas and drivers.
If you build your more efficient pallets that are aisle-ready you can even reduce stocking time in the store.
And if you can’t quite justify robotic palletizers (your own A.C.P.), with the right software you can maximize your pallets with even manual palletization. The right software virtually builds the pallet before the cases arrive at the operator and displays the pallet pattern case by case on a screen as each one is delivered to the operator.
The software takes into consideration all of the factors needed to construct the “perfect” pallet. Information like crush class, pallet integrity, store ready (aisle-friendly) max weight, height and overhang are all handled by the software.
So while it may seem like only a way to get items out of your warehouse and to the end user or customer, the way you are building pallets could be saving (or costing) you money.
Want to learn more about how to save money from how you build your pallets? Contact Schaefer today and see what we can od to help.
Schaefer Systems International, Inc., the North American subsidiary of the SSI SCHAEFER group of companies, established headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1989.
SCHAEFER’s automation integrates to any existing system earning us an international reputation as the global leader in the material-handling industry for returnable packaging, static racking, and highly complex, automated distribution systems. With over 70 years of experience and a 100% commitment to quality behind every SSI Schafer system, we focus on providing our clients with unconventional picking and storage solutions delivering best value