Building a better load

How you build your pallet load, and how you build a truckload, can go a long way to getting your product to your customer most efficiently.

By Bob Trebilcock, Editor at Large -- Modern Materials Handling, 6/17/2008

I’ll admit it. I’m old school. I enjoy the challenge of figuring out the best way to fit a driveway full of suitcases, purses, briefcases and pillows into the trunk of the car.

When it comes to figuring out the best way to get from here to there, MapQuest seemed like cheating. I was still inclined to turn to the worn Rand McNally Road Atlas on my desk and write out the directions on a legal pad.

Recently, however, I had an epiphany. I bought a GPS system for my daughter who’s going off to college in Chicago. After using it on a few short trips just to make sure it worked, I’m hooked. And you know what? It’s easier and more efficient to let the GPS plot out my trip than for me to do it. 

Something similar has happened when it comes to building pallets, loading trucks and planning shipping routes. When most facilities received and shipped full pallets with plenty of lead-time, clipboards and spreadsheets worked just fine. But that’s not the world that most facilities operate in today. To compete today, we need to be more efficient in all of those areas.

For years, warehouse management systems (WMS) have optimized inventory levels and operations on the warehouse floor, like receiving, putaway and picking. Likewise, transportation management systems (TMS) have automated and streamlined transportation planning and load tendering.

Once the gains are realized from those systems, it’s time to look for the next level of optimization and cost savings. One area that’s ripe is load building; that’s not just the way you construct a pallet, but also how you load the truck and build transportation routes.

That is especially important for manufacturers and distributors doing business with retailers that may require pallets to be built to certain specifications to make DC and store operations more efficient.

“We’re seeing all sorts of customer requirements when it comes to building pallet loads,” says Paul Moore, director of major systems sales for airport, post and parcel and manufacturing systems for FKI Logistex. “Retail customers are requiring everything from cartons loaded with their labels out for quick scanning to store-friendly delivery schemes.”

Between automated materials handling equipment, warehouse management and transportation management systems, a variety of ways are available today to meet those requirements and reduce costs.

You can read more about load building in the best practices in load building in the June issue of Modern.