Xpertpack is a leading manufacturers of wood packaging and we process close to 60,000 CFT of wood and wood derived products each month. All our facilities are equipped with state of the art machineries a few of which include laser cutting saws, automatic cutoff saws, high speed nailing guns and dust collectors. The machines are precise and systematic which enables us to reduce errors in manufacturing and production. We use 3-D design softwares such as SolidWorks and IronCad to design wooden pallets and boxes.
Containerised Transportation gave a massive impetus to the production of wooden pallets as they provide a convenient way to move loads and if the palletised loads are uniform from top then even stack one on top of each other. Once palletised loads can be conveniently moved around using Material Handling Equipment (MHE) such as forklift trucks, hand pallet trucks and stackers. Wooden pallets can be designed to take on higher and higher loads, however careful consideration must be given to both the static as well as dynamic load during designing.
No universally accepted standards for Pallet Sizes exist. A few elements that determine the size of pallets include – Load per pallet, Point load distribution, Equipment/Box Sizes and Rack dimensions in the warehouse to name a few. Pallets can be four way or two way depending on loads as four way pallets are capable of carrying much heavier loads.
20,000 PALLETS A MONTH
70,000 CFT WOOD PROCESSED EACH MONTH
MULTIPLE LOCATIONS
MULTI-CONTINENT SUPPLY CHAIN
TYPES OF PALLETS AND MATERIAL USAGE
TWO WAY WOODEN PALLETS
Two Way Pallets are Stringer Type pallets but without Stringer notches. The pallets can be entered from only two directions and hence the name Two Way Pallets. Since they are designed to be lifted by the deckboard they are not very strong compared to four-way pallets and therefore are suitable for loads of upto 1 tonnes.
FOUR WAY WOODEN PALLET
Four way pallets have an additional stringer board which distributes the load from the deckboard efficiently. By their design they can carry a lot more load than normal stringer pallets. Through they are known as four way pallets – they can be operated from all four sides using the forklift but not a pallet truck. One has to be careful while designing these pallets especially if they have to be moved in side a container using a hand pallet truck.
EURO PALLET
The EURO Pallet or EPAL Pallet is the standard European pallet as specified by the European Pallet Association (EPAL). Pallets conforming to the standardization are eligible for the European Pallet Pool (EPP) – the EPAL pallet system allows for an exchange as “pallet for pallet”.
The EURO Pallet is found in many sizes but the most common sizes are 1200 x 800 and 1200 x 1000, four-way pallet made of wood that is nailed with 78 special nails in a prescribed pattern.
ISO PALLET
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) sanctions six pallet dimensions, detailed in ISO Standard 6780: Flat pallets for intercontinental materials handling—Principal dimensions and tolerances.
CHOICE OF TIMBER FOR WOODEN PALLETS
The type of wood and its density determines the strength of pallets. There are two varieties of wood available in North India – Pinewood that is imported from Australia and Eucalyptus wood also known as Jungle Wood. While Eucalyptus wood is cheaper and high density it develops cracks when it is left out in the open as the moisture content is high. It is not possible to heat treat or kiln dry Eucalyptus wood as it develops cracks rendering it useless. Pinewood is soft wood with density of 16kg/cft and can be heat treated. Large sizes of upto 20 feet ara available in Pinewood so typically all big boxes are made from Pinewood.
NAILS AND FASTENERS
An important factor influencing the strength of pallets is the choice of nails. There are three types of nails that are widely in use – Plain, Screw Shank and Ring Shank. While the Ring Shank nails have the maximum withdrawal strength compared to plain nails the length of nails is an equally important criteria to consider.
