News - Category: Pallets

Increasing Lift Truck Safety and Plant Efficiencies with Presswood Pallet Solutions

According to National Safety Council, fork lift accidents result in an average of 101 fatalities and 94,570 injuries each year.  Although lift trucks are a necessary to maintain the efficient flow of raw materials and finished goods through manufacturing facilities, their use poses risks to both their operators and pedestrian traffic in your plant.   This article explains how pallet design influences fork lift traffic in manufacturing facilities and distribution centers and explores why presswood pallets may be a safer, more efficient alternative to conventional pallets.Continue Reading…

Pallet Audits Reduce Shipping Costs and Minimize Product Damage: TOPS Analysis

Today’s challenging business climate demands efficiency in all aspects of an organization’s processes, including logistics.  Many companies routinely spend millions of dollars on freight each year, and since shippers are usually responsible to arrange and prepay the expense, increases or decreases of just a few percentage points create a significant impact on the bottom line. Remember too, freight charges are one of the leading causes of losing much needed orders.

At Litco, we help customers optimize package sizes, unit loads, and pallet configurations within shipping containers and over- the-road trailers with a software package called TOPS (Total Optimization Packaging Software).  By performing a pallet audit  using TOPS, we can make specific recommendations that will reduce customer shipping costs and minimize product damage.  Here are just a few of the things we can review and analyze using this new software program:Continue Reading…

Making the Case for Small Pallets

The 48” x 40” has long been one of the most popular pallet sizes for a wide range of applications.  Recent MMH Pallet Surveys have suggested that while the 48” x 40” still remains king, times are changing and while there is no clear consensus on a replacement for the 48 x 40, there is growing interest in smaller pallets.  Rick LeBlanc’s recent story in Pallet Enterprise explores the rising popularity of smaller pallets and looks forward to a world where bigger is not always better.Continue Reading…

2013 Pallet Usage and Trending Survey

Each fall,  Modern Materials Handling conducts and publishes an annual pallet survey that provides valuable insight into current buying trends and usage patterns for our industry.  If you aren’t a subscriber to MMH, or you haven’t had time to read Bob Trebilcock’s Talking Pallets with Modern Readers, we have prepared a summary of key findings for your review.

The study is based on responses from 353 qualified MMH readers employed at locations using pallets.  At the 30,000 foot level, the survey results suggest the pallet market will grow annually by 3.5% through 2017.  Although price remains the most commonly cited factor influencing a purchasing decision (56% of respondents, down from 63% last year), cost-per-use was cited by 43% or participants this year.  This trend suggests that pallet buyers remain concerned with costs but that logistics professionals are taking a more long term view when evaluating suppliers.   Other key considerations cited in this year’s survey include:Continue Reading…