A pallet is a pallet, right? No big deal, they say? Pallets are a commodity, why bother taking the time and effort to create a custom design for a pallet? What’s the point? The saying in our industry is“the only time people are interested in pallets is after they run out!!”

The fact is, many manufacturers today don’t put nearly enough importance and focus on pallet design when shipping out their products. This is an area that is very often overlooked and taken for granted. Most think that so long as their cargo is on a pallet, it’ll get to its destination, without incident. No worries!! Many manufacturers will even use the same pallets to ship a variety of their products out on, regardless of cargo size, weight, footprint, destination, etc. Unfortunately, for safe and cost-effective packaging and shipping of products, one pallet size does not fit all.

So, here are two very important reasons why creating a custom design spec is so important:

If a pallet is UNDER-BUILT and fails:

  • It creates an immediatesafety hazardthat could result in personal injury to an employee or a customer
  • It increases the likelihood your cargo is going to get damaged
  • It indicates the pallet was either the wrong design or is too weak for the cargo weight

If a pallet is OVER-BUILT:

  • Your company is wasting money because the pallet has more lumber in it than is necessary for shipping out that particular product

So, what is the solution to prevent these events from happening? A custom pallet design spec should be created for each individual product a company is shipping out. All the dimensions and characteristics of theCARGOare what drive each pallet design. Yes, it does make a difference!!

Alliance Pallets of Chicago, a division of Alliance Forest Products, currently supplies new, used and recycled pallets and skids to manufacturers throughout the Greater Chicagoland area. For custom pallet design specs, we use PDS (Pallet Design System ©) software licensed through the National Wood Pallet and Container Association. It enables us to design thebest pallet for each product. . . at thelowest costwhile meeting all your shipping requirements. It will usually reduce your pallet spend, too.

“A Proud and Active Member of the

National Wood Pallet & Container Association”

 

ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITMENT

We strive to maintain a“green”agenda by sending as little wood waste as possible to landfills.