Unit load

Forklift truck handling stretch wrapped unit load.

A unit load combines individual items or items in shipping containers into single "units" that can be moved easily with a pallet jack or forklift truck. A unit load packs tightly into warehouse racks, intermodal containers, trucks, and boxcars, yet can be easily broken apart at a distribution point, usually a distribution center, wholesaler, retail store, etc.

Function

Most consumer and industrial products move through the supply chain in unitized or unit load form for at least part of their distribution cycle. Unit loads make handling, storage, and distribution more efficient. They help reduce handling costs and damage by reducing individual handling.

A typical unit load might consist of corrugated fiberboard boxes stacked on a pallet or slip sheet and stabilized with stretch wrap, pressure-sensitive tape, strapping or shrink wrap. About 2 billion unit loads are in daily use in the United States (Ward 1993).

Unit load design

There are three kinds of unit load design: Component based, systems based, and standards compliant. These have different applications.

Component-based design

Component-based design is the outmoded ad hoc method of unit load design. Components are sometimes over specified to get assured performance, or tested to get inexpensive economic performance.

Unit load storage and distribution systems consist of several interacting parts:

Packaging and labeling (with product),
Pallet, and
Handling/Storage Equipment
The distribution environment (shock, vibration, humidity, temperature, etc.)

Considerable knowledge exists regarding the design of each of these components: their interactions have more recently been studied. When packaging, pallet, and handling systems are designed separately at different locations by different teams, the result might be inefficient unit load systems.

The consequences of independent component based design in the supply chain can include:

Unsafe Workplaces
Product Damage
High Packaging Costs
Reduced Handling Efficiency
Wasted Natural Resources
Reduction of Environmental Quality

Systems-based design

Systems-based design is a proven process of unit load component cost optimization based on an understanding of how the pallet, packaging and material handling equipment interact during product distribution and storage to design the unit load component parts.

A systems-based approach to unit load design uses software tools and lab testing to create a package that uses just the right amount of material to protect the product, make for safe handling and transportation and minimize the use of non-recyclable materials.^[1]

Companies must now consider sustainability when determining how their packaging products will be reused or recycled at the end of their journey. By combining sustainability with unit load science, they not only create the optimal unit load, but also reduce the amount of packaging material used to transport that load, maximizing the materials that can be recycled and minimize what’s going into a landfill.^[2]

Unit loads move by an unpredictable mix of many types of vehicles and storage areas, the exact set is difficult to predict. Therefore, unit loads must be designed to travel by any such vehicles, and be stored in a wide variety of places. There are therefore many similarities in the requirements for long term storage and long distance transportation of unit loads.

Factors considered in unit load systems based design include:

Distribution Vibration and Resonance
Load Bridging and Deformation
Unit Load Deflections
Interfacial friction and load stability
Compression stress and product protection
Vertical and horizontal stabilization

Very often a few inexpensive additions to the packaging can stabilize or stiffen a critical part and give good unit-load performance at a low cost.^[3]

Standards-compliant design

Standards permit a unit load to be designed and tested to meet a written specification or test method. A unit load can be verified to comply with a standard and validated to determine that the unit load is indeed effective.

Standards provide institutional memory of the many conditions in real logistic trains, and collect the best practices for design and testing unit loads. Standards also describe load requirements, so that logistic providers can plan to meet them.

Material based standards describe proven designs for particular circumstances. These are often used to describe unit load components such as pallets, strapping, seals, caps, retaining rings and battens.
Performance testing standards describe needs and allow flexibility in the choice of matierials. These are applied to particular unit load designs.

ASTM D4169 has standard test protocols for unit loads. These vary based on the value of the load, the expected hazards, and the distribution environment. This is a performance based standard.

Another standard for unit loads is MIL-STD-1660,^[4] a standard for ammunition unit loads. DOD unit loads generally use 40 in × 48 in (1,016 mm × 1,219 mm) pallets, which unfortunately do not pack efficiently into ISO containers. They weigh less than 4,000 lb (1,814 kg) to limit the stresses on handling equipment. They are weatherproof, and stack 16 ft (4.877 m) high. They often use steel pallets, steel straps with notched seals, outdoor plywood, and plastic film. MIL-STD-1660 mandates that loads must never be less than the width of a pallet, while permitting some overhang. The markings are LOGMARS bar codes and standard inventory numbers. The standard describes major parts of the logistic path, including storage, ship, air, truck, forklift and sling (i.e. ship-to-ship and parachute). There are auxiliary standards for ship-to-ship transfers, and amphibious transfers. There are tests for stacking, transport, sling, forklift and pallet jack, impact, drop tests, tip, water-retention (i.e. weather), and safe disassembly.

MIL-STD-1660 at first looks like ridiculous overdesign to commercial unit-load designers. However, similar marking standards, safety, stability, volumetric efficiency, weight limits and impact resistance are routinely needed in commercial logistics. Sling handling is routine for small ports and noncontainer transports. Weatherproofness could be optional. It's sometimes valuable, and the baggies are cheap. High, standardized stacking could be optional as well. It's expensive, but sometimes valuable for rackless and military customers.

References

↑ http://www.millwoodinc.com/resources/1/literature/Designing-The-Better-Unit-Load-From-The-Ground-Up.pdf
↑ http://www.millwoodinc.com/resources/1/literature/Designing-The-Better-Unit-Load-From-The-Ground-Up.pdf
↑ Systems Based Design Eliminates Product Damage, Pallet Enterprise, pg. 90
↑ Design Criteria for Ammunition Unit Loads, U.S. DOD, Dept of the Navy, Naval Sea Systems Command, 8 April 1970, MIL-STD-1660, retrieved 2008-01-01

External links

Virginia Tech Center For Unit Load Design

Packaging

General topics	Active packaging Child-resistant packaging Disposable food packaging Food packaging Luxury packaging Modified atmosphere/modified humidity packaging Package pilferage Package testing Packaging engineering Pharmaceutical packaging Reusable packaging Shelf life Sustainable packaging Tamper-evident Tamper resistance Wrap rage

Containers	Aerosol spray Aluminium bottle Aluminum can Ampoule Antistatic bag Bag-in-box Bags and flexible containers Barrel Biodegradable bag Blister pack Bottle Box Bulk box Carboy Carton Chub Clamshell Corrugated box design Crate Drum Envelope Flexible intermediate bulk container Foam food container Folding carton Insulated shipping container Intermediate bulk container Jar Jerrycan Jug Juicebox Keg Matryoshka doll Multi-pack Oyster pail Packet (container) Padded mailer Pail Paper bag Paper sack Plastic bag Plastic bottle Popcorn bag Retort pouch Sachet Security bag Self-heating can Self-heating food packaging Shaker-style pantry box Shipping container Skin pack Spray bottle Tin can Tube Unit load Vial Wooden box

Materials and components	Adhesive Aluminium foil Bioplastic Biodegradable plastic BoPET Bubble wrap Bung Cellophane Closure Coated paper Coating Corrugated fiberboard Corrugated plastic Cushioning Desiccant Double seam Foam peanut Glass Hot-melt adhesive Kraft paper Label Linear low-density polyethylene Liquid packaging board Low-density polyethylene Metallised film Modified atmosphere Molded pulp Nonwoven fabric Overwrap Oxygen scavenger Packaging gas Pallet Paper Paper pallet Paperboard Plastic film Plastic pallet Plastic wrap Polyester Polyethylene Polypropylene Pressure-sensitive tape Screw cap Screw cap (wine) Security printing Security seal Shock detector Shock and vibration data logger Shrink wrap Slip sheet Staple (fastener) Strapping Stretch wrap Susceptor Tear tape Temperature data logger Time temperature indicator Tinplate Velostat

Processes	Aseptic processing Authentication Automatic identification and data capture Blow fill seal Blow molding Calendering Canning Coating Containerization Curtain Coating Die cutting Electronic article surveillance Extrusion Extrusion coating Graphic design HACCP Hermetic seal Induction sealing Injection molding Laminating Laser cutting Molding Papermaking Plastic welding Plastics extrusion Printing Quality assurance Radio-frequency identification Roll slitting Shearing (manufacturing) Track and trace Vacuum forming Ultrasonic welding Vacuum packaging Verification and validation

Machinery	Barcode printer Barcode reader Bottling line Calender Can seamer Cartoning machine Case sealer Check weigher Conveyor system Extended core stretch wrapper Filler Heat gun Heat sealer Industrial robot Injection molding machine Label printer applicator Lineshaft roller conveyor Logistics automation Material handling equipment Mechanical brake stretch wrapper Multihead weigher Orbital stretch wrapping Palletizer Rotary wheel blow molding systems Shrink tunnel Staple gun Tape dispenser Turntable stretch wrapper Vertical form fill sealing machine

Environment, post-use	Biodegradation Environmental engineering Glass recycling Industrial ecology Life-cycle assessment Litter Paper recycling Plastic recycling Recycling Reusable packaging Reverse logistics Source reduction Sustainable packaging Waste management

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