Are there products in the marketplace that could extend the lifecycle of your pallets?

Have you tried any products that could extend the life of your current warehouse pallets?  Reducing damage can be achieved by using pallet protectors, forklift fork-guards, and warehouse racking add-ons. 

End plates improve pallet durability at forklift entry points.

Could there be products used to improve warehouse systems and prevent pallet damage?

• Pallet Protectors
  Products are available that can be added to the pallet such as end plates or metal strips to strengthen the durability where a forklift enters the pallet. Damage commonly occurs when the end of a forklift hits a deckboard or stringer causing a puncture that can split the board. By adding a metal end plate or plastic protector the end of the pallet becomes reinforced and can stand up to punctures.
  
  
• Forklift Attachments
  Similarly, there are products added to forklifts that reduce damage by pushing across the face of the pallet instead of just where the forks contact. By adding these forklift attachments, the stringers will get pushed before the leading edge of the deck board will be lifted.  By pushing against the stringers the weight (being pushed) is transferred throughout the pallet instead of being lifted by the edge deck board.
   
• Warehouse Racking Add-on
  Metal grids that reinforce a pallet rack can also aid in spreading the weight from the reinforcement rods. Grids may allow a less expensive pallet to be used or reduce the amount of operator error that a forklift driver would have when loading and unloading the rack.  

  
There are many products available to aid in extending the lifecycle of pallets.  A quick review of your warehouse with an industry expert could provide additional cost savings on packaging or create ways of reducing product damage.

Have you tried any of these new products? Or would your warehouse system benefit from one of our technical team members doing an evaluation and show how these new products could save packaging costs? We would love to hear how these products have worked for you.

Post by: Jonathan Haynes, Regional Sales Manager