Palletisation

Stretch film, also known as stretch wrap or pallet wrap, is one of the most popular palletisation materials on the market. By "palletisation", we simply mean the process of bundling and securing several individual packages together, often on a pallet. Other palletisation techniques commonly used include shrink wrapping, bagging and strapping. The following outlines the benefits of stretch film over other palletisation techniques as well as identifies its weaknesses.

Benefits of Stretch Film

Less damage to product versus strapping
Virtually eliminates load crushing by distributing the force of the film over the entire load, without the use of corner boards
Can take a shock or vibration and still maintain the load in its original palletised configuration
Material cost per pallet is less than shrink wrapping or strapping
Equipment is less expensive than shrink wrapping, bagging or automatic strapping equipment
Provides lower operating and maintenance costs
Provides a large energy saving over shrink wrapping
May be produced tinted or opaque for product identification or pilferage prevention

Weaknesses of Stretch Film

Provides less resistance to moisture than shrink wrap
Cannot be used to (vertically) compress a pallet load because its primary holding force is in the horizontal direction

There are three main causes of compression-loss when palletising boxes:
Pallet Overhang, Wooden Pallets, and Interlocked Stacking Patterns.

We know, boxes are not rocket science. But, did you know that merely changing the way you stack and palletise your boxes could significantly effect their performance? Incredibly, it has been found that improper palletisation can result in boxes losing up to 50% of their compression strength!

Pallet Overhang
The most common culprit of compression-loss is boxes hanging over the edge of the pallet. When this occurs, the two vertical edges of the box not hanging over the pallet edge are primarily supporting the load. In fact, when boxes are stacked on a pallet with as little as ½ inch hanging-over, as much as 30% of their strength is lost! The solution here is to make sure you are using the proper pallet size or the proper palletising pattern to avoid overhang. You may also want to look at reconfiguring the box dimensions to fit the pallet.

Wooden Pallets
With the space between deckboards on a wooden pallet averaging 25-100 mm inches, it is common that the bottom of the box is not being entirely supported. This too can cause significant compression losses in the unit load. In fact, up to 15% of compression strength may be destroyed. This may be avoided by choosing pallets with deckboards that are strategically positioned so all of the vertical edges of the box (corners) are being supported. Another option would be to use corrugated pallet liners to cover the bottom of the pallet (pallet deck) to make it a solid surface.

Pallet interlocked Interlocked Stacking Patterns
This situation can be much like a double-edged sword. Using an interlocked pattern, which rotates each layer on the load, can destroy up to 50% of the compression strength. Palletising boxes so that they are columnar, or vertically stacked (stacking one box directly on top of the other) is the preferred method. This method, however, makes it difficult to keep the load intact during handling. One solution to this problem is to stabilise the load by using stretch wrap. This can be done by using a stretch wrap machine, or by simply spiral wrapping the load by hand.


	Palletisation Stretch film, also known as stretch wrap or pallet wrap, is one of the most popular palletisation materials on the market. By "palletisation", we simply mean the process of bundling and securing several individual packages together, often on a pallet. Other palletisation techniques commonly used include shrink wrapping, bagging and strapping. The following outlines the benefits of stretch film over other palletisation techniques as well as identifies its weaknesses. Benefits of Stretch Film Less damage to product versus strapping Virtually eliminates load crushing by distributing the force of the film over the entire load, without the use of corner boards Can take a shock or vibration and still maintain the load in its original palletised configuration Material cost per pallet is less than shrink wrapping or strapping Equipment is less expensive than shrink wrapping, bagging or automatic strapping equipment Provides lower operating and maintenance costs Provides a large energy saving over shrink wrapping May be produced tinted or opaque for product identification or pilferage prevention Weaknesses of Stretch Film Provides less resistance to moisture than shrink wrap Cannot be used to (vertically) compress a pallet load because its primary holding force is in the horizontal direction There are three main causes of compression-loss when palletising boxes: Pallet Overhang, Wooden Pallets, and Interlocked Stacking Patterns. We know, boxes are not rocket science. But, did you know that merely changing the way you stack and palletise your boxes could significantly effect their performance? Incredibly, it has been found that improper palletisation can result in boxes losing up to 50% of their compression strength! Pallet Overhang The most common culprit of compression-loss is boxes hanging over the edge of the pallet. When this occurs, the two vertical edges of the box not hanging over the pallet edge are primarily supporting the load. In fact, when boxes are stacked on a pallet with as little as ½ inch hanging-over, as much as 30% of their strength is lost! The solution here is to make sure you are using the proper pallet size or the proper palletising pattern to avoid overhang. You may also want to look at reconfiguring the box dimensions to fit the pallet. Wooden Pallets With the space between deckboards on a wooden pallet averaging 25-100 mm inches, it is common that the bottom of the box is not being entirely supported. This too can cause significant compression losses in the unit load. In fact, up to 15% of compression strength may be destroyed. This may be avoided by choosing pallets with deckboards that are strategically positioned so all of the vertical edges of the box (corners) are being supported. Another option would be to use corrugated pallet liners to cover the bottom of the pallet (pallet deck) to make it a solid surface. Interlocked Stacking Patterns This situation can be much like a double-edged sword. Using an interlocked pattern, which rotates each layer on the load, can destroy up to 50% of the compression strength. Palletising boxes so that they are columnar, or vertically stacked (stacking one box directly on top of the other) is the preferred method. This method, however, makes it difficult to keep the load intact during handling. One solution to this problem is to stabilise the load by using stretch wrap. This can be done by using a stretch wrap machine, or by simply spiral wrapping the load by hand.