More and more companies are looking for lightweight packaging material in order to reduce transportation costs. Every extra kilogram must be prevented during transport, in particular during sea container transport. Currently there are various lightweight pallets available, also called single-use or disposable pallets on the market. These type of pallets are made of solid cardboard, wood fiber (pressed wood) or plastic, which are all light in weight.
In addition to the advantage of a reduction in weight, these type of pallets are also suited for the pharmaceutical industry and the food sector due to the ISPM 15 guidelines or HACCP guidelines. Using single-use pallets is interesting if there is no possibility of setting up a return system with the recipient. The investment is lower than for multiple-use pallets and the advantage is that no registration system needs to be maintained. These pallets often only have a closed upper deck and an open lower deck. The insert opening is formed by so-called “feet” of ” runners” but this type of systems often cause damage (depressions) if they are stacked onto another pallet load. Another thing all of these pallets have in common is that the pallets are all constructed according to standard pallet guidelines, in particular the insert opening of 90 mm. In standard pallets, this high and often senseless opening is intended to allow you to adjust the pallet cart.
Saving space during container transport
Imagine that you have decided to purchase the above-mentioned single-use pallets. If you have, then you will save costs due to reduced weight but you might also save on purchasing costs compared to multiple-use wood or plastic pallets. But what about saving space? Why should you not use very thin pallets that are just as thick as your forklift forks or perhaps thinner in order to save room in containers, trailers, etc.
If you are going to use the ultra-thin pallets, the so-called Flex-Pallets by MSE-Forks, then you can transport more products in one shipment. The patented Flex-Pallets all have an upper deck and lower deck that are flexibly attached to each other. These pallets thus have an elastic effect, and this can be achieved in various ways as regards materials and designs. Instead of standard forklift forks, RollerForks are used in order to be able to lift the RollerForks Flex-Pallets®.
Corrugated Flex-Pallet® (patent concept)
The Flex-Pallet consists of several “folded” blocks, a bottom layer and a top layer. Both layers are flexibly attached to each other by the folded corrugated cardboard. Due to the weight of the load and during transport, the pallet will be pressed together but an opening will always remain so that the RollerForks can be easily inserted into the pallet. When the RollerForks is pushed into the pallet, the pallet “opens” and the load can be easily lifted. The blocks of the Flex-Pallet cannot be damaged if these are deformed under load or during transport.
The RollerForks Flex-Pallet® is an excellent alternative to wood, plastic and other cardboard pallets with the following important advantages:
- Thanks to its thinness of ± 35 mm, more goods can be transported.
- Complies with the ISPM15 standard and the HACCP qualification.
- Lightweight and therefore easy to work with and ideal for air freight.
- Takes up less space as regards storage and transport.
- Entirely recyclable; no nails, staples, etc.
- Can be used on conveyor belts.
- Folded blocks provide cushioning.
- Competitively priced compared to standard pallets.
- Environmentally friendly.
IKEA’s Green Program
A practical example of a company that has begun with thin pallets or load carriers is Swedish retailer IKEA. You may have seen the “plastic loading ledges” and cardboard slipsheets in many of the company’s stores.
DC Manager Ed Morris, who led the project. “It has been positive in all aspects so far. We’ve experienced less damage, and while picking and putaway are about the same, there are significant time-savings in receiving and shipping.”
Source : http://logisticsmagazine.ca/english/images/Logistics-June2009-ENG.pdf
Source : Optiledge®
In addition to the heavier-duty models, MSE-Forks has also developed special-purpose narrow RollerForks for dealing with loading ledges and cardboard pallets. Loading ledges are specially designed plastic profiles developed as an alternative to pallets that hold loads in place.
Non-rigid loads tend to start sagging over an extended period. This is not necessarily a problem, but it can cause problems when unloading containers. If regular forks are used to remove the goods from the container, then the load will probably sag. Regular forks would have to be forced under the load, possibly causing damage to its underside. The load then has to be removed from the forks, but often this is not possible because the load is sagging around the forks. The load then has to be held back in order to retract the forks.
Often loads have to be put on standard pallets along with their loading ledges for internal transportation. This can be quite a tight fit. This is why MSE-Forks developed the RFC15 RollerFork model to avoid such problems. These RollerForks are 160 mm wide, fit easily between the loading ledge profiles and can lift up to 1500 kg. RollerForks can pick up loads easily even if they are sagging. The specially shaped RollerForks tips slide effortlessly under the load and can be retracted easily in order to place loads on regular pallets.
Thin carton pallets
MSE-Forks has introduced a new telescopic fork model for pallets with a limited pallet insert opening. The newest model is an addition to the existing portfolio of telescopic forks, which are particularly suited as extension forks. These hydraulic extension forks are used to prevent damage to products and pallets because standard forklift forks are too long or too short with respect to the pallet that is being lifted.
Because more and more companies are looking for more efficient carriers for its goods, alternatives to standard pallets such as cardboard pallets and slipsheets are increasingly being marketed. MSE-Forks previously introduced a special attachment for forklifts – the patented RollerForks®, which is suitable for lifting special carriers as slipsheets. Now MSE-Forks has marketed an especially thin telescopic fork officially called REE2 17. This merely 40 mm thin telescopic fork can be used as a hydraulic extension fork but is also used for hydraulically moving the load forward and backward by itself. Thanks to the innovative design and use of high-quality materials, MSE-Forks has been able to achieve a capacity of 1700 kg with a load moment of 600 mm. The telescopic forks are primarily intended for handling Euro pallets and Block pallets but also for lifting two pallets that are stacked one behind the other such as two Block pallets that are 1000 mm deep so that the forks have a total length of 2000 mm. Due to the special cross-section developed by MSE-Forks, the outer forks cannot catch the lower-most pallet boards, which limits damage to pallets and goods to the absolute minimum.
Photographic material source:
Loading ledges: www.logistik-inside.de
Plastic pallet: http://www.auer-packaging.nl/images/products/huge/h1.jpg
MSE-Forks
MSE-Forks is an independent, innovative company that develops and manufactures unique logistics products such as telescopic forks and mechanical forklift truck equipment for palletless handling using the so-called RollerForks. All of our products are aimed at increasing ease of use and application of logistics and transportation resources, such as forklift trucks and their variants.
We aim to add value to our customers’ and end-users’ logistics supply chains. We sell our products via our own international network of importers and directly to forklift truck manufacturers. It is intrinsically understood that the products we supply are of the highest quality and reliability.