What is Palletization and Why You Need It

What is Palletization?

Palletization changed the logistics world forever. It sprouted from the great supply-chain revolution in the 1920s. As streamlining processes for heavy objects became increasingly important, businesses began using wooden skids. 

 Those skids developed into the pallets we know today during World War II – as armies used them to transport large amounts of supplies to troops. From WWII on, pallets have provided benefits far beyond the boundaries of military use. 

Benefits of Palletization

Unloading a container manually costs a significant amount of money, especially if the product needs to be distributed to multiple places (this manual unload would happen multiple times). 

Using palletization, in the beginning, allows for faster turnaround and saves money long-term because the rest of the journey is more efficient and requires reduced labor. If the journey is long for the product or it needs to go to a distribution center and will touch many hands through the process, the palletization process cost far outweighs the labor requirements for an unpalletized load.

The benefits of palletization have motivated widespread use across industries. Facilities that use palletization often see: 

• Quicker loading and unloading times
• Faster delivery turnround
• Reduced labor requirements
• Reduced damage and injury risks
• Efficient storage of goods
• Optimized logistics operations 

Beyond transportation and storage facilitation, the unit's structure provides a layer of protection as goods move from destination to destination. And pallets also offer facility workers a layer of safety, reducing the need to move individual items manually. 

Different Strokes

There are many ways in which facilities approach facilitation. From manual to palletization and some combination efforts in between. Four basic approaches to palletization permeate the logistics industry:

• Manual palletization utilizes human capital to stack units.
• Semi-automated palletization manually slides cartons onto the pallet with an operator managing each product layer.
• Automated palletization uses an automated palletizer that determines layers to build unit loads.
• Robotic palletization eliminates the need for worker-product interaction as robots assemble products in a prescribed pattern ideal for storage and movement.

Dream Logistics Palletizes 

Dreams Logistics creates custom palletization solutions for customers of all sizes. Want to know more about storing and shipping your goods more efficiently? We'd love to discuss how to meet your business needs. Contact us today.