Cut costs with a systems-based approach to unit load design

Asystems-based approach to unit
load design can save between
8% and 18% in avoidable costs,
according to Dr Marshall White, a
professor emeritus at Virginia Tech.
He notes that pallets, packaging
materials, materials handling systems
and transportation equipment don’t
exist in a vacuum. The design of
each of those components affects the
performance of the others as a palletised
load moves through the supply chain
from a factory to a distribution centre
and on to the end customer for that
load.
“Most companies take a componentbased
approach to design with three
different communities involved. One is
responsible for the packaging, another
is responsible for the pallet and a third
is responsible for the warehouse design
and the unit load handling equipment.
Each of those groups is under pressure
to reduce its costs, and they do that
without communicating with the other
design community,” White says.
He explains that the team designing
the conveyor system for a new
warehouse may increase the spacing
between rollers to save on the cost of
the system. While their numbers look
good, the pallet now needs to be built
from more expensive deck boards to
carry the weight of the load across a
wider span without buckling. In the
long run it may make more economic
sense for the enterprise to install a more
expensive conveyor and save big on
pallets, stretch wrap and cartons.
“As long as conveyors, pallets,
stretch wrap and cartons are designed
and purchased by different teams
with different bonus incentives, it’s
hard to get that message across. Until
we change the business model so that
these communities have an incentive to
work together, it’s very difficult to do
because everyone operates in their own
very competitive environment.
“The owner of the supply chain
must provide that forum and give
instruction for those communities to
work together,” White emphasises.