“Prepared. For Life.” These three simple words make up the Boy Scouts of America’s mission statement.
Preparation is key to the success of a camping trip in the woods. And it’s also key to getting your product to your customers in as-made condition.
The more you pay attention to the early steps of preparation, the more likely you are to be successful.
The foundation for successful stretch wrapping starts with how you stack your pallet load. We wanted to get to the bottom of what makes well-stacked pallet loads, so we talked with an expert on the subject.
Here’s an excerpt from an interview with Mike Balough, a stretch wrapping expert at Lantech, a leading manufacturer of stretch wrappers and other packaging machines, who explains the principles of stacking loads.
1. Q: Mike, What are the most important things people should know about stacking a load?
A: Stack a load to make the layers consistent and as stable as you can. The stability will be different if you’re stacking a square load with flat cases vs. an order picked load with unstable products.
Heavy square cases will usually rotate well on a turntable stretch wrapper. But if you have a very tall light load or very tall order-picked load, you may need to reduce the height of the load or wrap it on a machine where the load doesn’t have to rotate.
2. Q: That makes sense. Is there a certain order to stacking?
A: Stack the heaviest products on the bottom of the pallet and the lightest stuff toward the top. If the weight distribution is wrong, you can crush or damage the product.
3. Q: What about the pallet the load sits on?
A: Don’t let your load overhang the pallet or sit too inboard. Keep the load equal to or within the perimeter of the pallet. If a case, for example, sticks out more than 2 inches from the pallet, the product may get damaged. If the load is much smaller than the perimeter of the pallet, you won’t be able to lock the load to the pallet.
In a nutshell, stacking a load is the first step to successful shipment. But if you don’t put in the initial effort, everything can go downhill like a boy scout lost in the woods.
Learn more about stacking loads and stretch wrapping on Lantech.com.
This post was published on December 14, 2015 and updated on January 5, 2016.
December 14, 2015
