How Can I Improve Pallet Stability?

Pallet stability is essential for transport safety, both for the product being transported and for everyone involved in the distribution cycle. In addition to the importance of safety, unstable unit loads are a cause of unnecessary costs and logistical inefficiencies.

Pallet stability is the ability of a pallet unit to remain intact and upright, i.e. the stabilising forces. These forces include acceleration, braking or forklift handling movements during transport. Achieving this load stability depends on the correct design of the palletising system. The wrapping machine, as well as the quantity and type of stretch film used, play a crucial role in this design.

The importance of pallet stability

Avoiding product shrinkage - Unstable pallets can cause products to crush or fall when handled by forklift trucks. This can lead to a loss of product and therefore money.

Increased safety - Unstable goods endanger storage and transport operators. As a result, it is estimated that at least 25% of truck accidents are caused by the movement of unstable loads.

Ensuring pallet stability can save companies significant costs, not only by reducing shrinkage but also by reducing fines associated with backlogs and poor load stability.

Problems affecting stability

The problem of achieving load stability is related to the configuration of the goods on the pallet, the weight distribution or the choice of packaging material used (stretch film or stretch cover).

Stacking heights

Higher heights mean more movement possibilities due to dynamic forces and therefore more complex pallet stability. The optimum stacking height for the palletising system must therefore be investigated.

Defective seals

Uneven edges are one of the causes of poor sealing of stretch film. This problem can also be caused by poor polymer material or poor sealing position during placement.

Stretch wrapping

Optimising the fit of the packaging film is essential to achieve pallet stability: using too much film can damage the product, as can using less than the required amount.

Placement patterns

Stability is achieved by selecting the correct placement pattern on the pallet. Therefore, if the pallets are not stacked on top of each other, an interlocking arrangement (e.g. brick wall) is recommended, which provides greater resistance to lateral movement.

It's important to pay attention to details while wrapping. And if you are looking for a reliable cooperator, please cjoose us. SMARTWASP focuses on designing, researching and manufacturing intelligent pallet wrapping machine and providing packaging automation solutions. Smart Wasp has a professional design and development team. We are committed to building products with Chinese brands and world-class quality and strives to become a respected company.