When a major British manufacturer of ready-to-eat foods and snacks (known for its popular canned fish, pasta, canned fruits and beans) was looking for pallets capable of handling bulk dry ingredients in its new raw material warehouse, Goplasticpallets.com can provide the perfect solution.

Specifically, a plastic pallet solution is needed to handle dried beans stored in large flexible intermediate bulk containers (FIBC). Each bulk bag can hold up to 2,000 kg of dry ingredients, so this application requires a sturdy pallet that can reliably handle these heavy objects and go through multiple cycles.

Plastic pallets will be used in a new semi-automatic high-density storage system that uses deep-lane shuttles to retract and retrieve pallets in a specially designed racking structure. This optimizes the available space in the warehouse, improves the operational efficiency of raw material storage and retrieval, and helps inventory turnover in the FIFO system.

Storing bulk bags on pallets can cause problems. Their shapes are never exactly the same, and they are often inclined to the side, so it is difficult to load and place them in the center of the pallet. You can then create point loads on the pallet deck, which are transmitted through the pallet structure, creating unevenly distributed loads that can cause high deflection when on the shelf. The automation within the storage system being used specifies some very specific deflection tolerances that the pallet must meet, so the pallet must comply to ensure that the storage and retrieval process works efficiently and consistently over multiple cycles.

Goplasticpallets.com negotiated extensively with food manufacturers to help determine the key performance specification-a sturdy, heavy-duty plastic pallet with an area of ​​1,200 x 1,000 mm that meets demanding minimum deflection standards.

Goplasticpallets.com is very suitable to create a candidate list of potential pallets based on the required specifications and features, and then work closely with the technical team of Cabka-IPS to conduct "application" trials to finally determine which plastic pallets fully meet the needs of the application. Goplasticpallets.com requires dry beans samples in accurate packaging formats to replicate the actual physical loads being processed to provide very specific data on the performance of the pallets in the storage system. These tests were performed on a variety of different plastic tray types and materials, including trays made of recycled plastic, and repeated many times, and the test data of each test tray was recorded.

All application tests are carried out in accordance with ISO 8611-1:2011 Material Handling Pallets-Flat Pallets-Part 1: Test Methods, and all results are recorded and analyzed to ensure that the specified pallet is fully suitable for the purpose.

This "benchmark" creates a database that allows comparisons and ensures that the pallet specifications match the required performance standards. The purchase cost of the pallet can then be included in the project budget.

After the application trial, Goplasticpallets.com recommended APB 1210 Super Pool 5R pallets made of virgin polypropylene material for the application. This heavy-duty 1,200 mm (length) x 1,000 mm (width) x 165 mm (width) plastic pallet has excellent structure and design, and has been proven to be used in multi-pass supply chain scenarios for a long time. Capable of storing static loads of 6,000 kg, it can also handle dynamic loads of up to 3,000 kg.

The designated trays are made of virgin grade high-quality polypropylene (PP) material and comply with the Food Contact Material Regulation (EC) 1935/2004.

The flat and smooth upper layer ensures that there are no sharp edges that could cause the bulk bag to be hooked and torn. The pallet is a full-perimeter five-wheel base configuration, which can be used with all common material handling equipment (such as forklifts and walking power trucks), and can also be automated in warehouses, such as pallet inverters, roller conveyors and shuttles.

This is the ideal tray for food applications. The structure of the tray is well designed, and there is no dirt trap. The top and bottom of the pallet table and slide are smooth rounded corners, without sharp edges, which minimizes dirt in use. The tray is easy to clean and dry in a fully automatic tray washer, which is an important element in this application. The tray needs to be cleaned frequently to ensure compliance with the internal GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) of the food manufacturing department.

The tray can be printed for identification and is available in a variety of colors. The specific area on the outer corner block of the pallet can be firmly fixed to the label, and the electronic "track and trace" system can be used to optimize the management of the pallet by installing RFID tags inside the pallet structure.

A second lower specification pallet is also provided for another different storage application in the warehouse. This is used to store other ingredients that have a much lower tare weight and are stored in a more traditional two-beam back-to-back racking system. The recommended pallet for this task is Cabka-IPS ER100L 5R made from recycled high-density polyethylene (HDPE).

In the application, it is also necessary to mark some pallets with barcodes so that the pallets can be easily identified electronically. Goplasticpallets.com works with the project team to specify, provide and fix the label on the pallet before delivery.

In November 2020, Goplasticpallets.com provided 2,394 APB 1210 Super Pool 5R pallets to food manufacturers, and 390 are expected to be delivered in the next few weeks to supplement business growth.

© 2020 Akabo Media Ltd Registration Number 07766641 United Kingdom | All Rights Reserved. Registered address: Akabo Media, GG.006, Metal Box Factory, 30 Great Guildford St, SE1 0HS

Necessary cookies are absolutely necessary for the normal operation of the website. This category only includes cookies that ensure the basic functions and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the operation of the website and are specifically used to collect user personal data through analysis, advertising, and other embedded content are called non-essential cookies. You must obtain user consent before running these cookies on your website.