How does the choice of wooden or plastic pallet affect in a low or very low warehouse rotation

The company logistics manager is well aware of the flows of materials arriving from production or suppliers, and the time spent in their warehouses before they are sold .

Knowing the movement of goods in a warehouse is not only essential for the purchasing department, to plan the entry of raw materials or semi-finished or marketed materials , but it also becomes important for the sales office, to know which product is ready for sale and how quickly the customer will be able to receive what he has bought.

In addition, the administrative office sees the inventory flows transformed into circulating or non-circulating liquidity, with a consequence on the financial commitments of the company.

Many things revolve around the logistics of a company and the rotation speed of the warehouse implies some important considerations for those involved in this activity.

Today I would like to analyze an aspect concerning the durability of product packaging in a low and very low turnover warehouse, especially for those companies that have to produce large stocks of goods, according to established campaigns or for certain commitments on the plants or to have a very wide range of products available.

Not being able to generalize, considering the huge amount of different packaged items, let's consider a durable good, contained in a Big Bag on a wooden pallet.

We also assume that the material produced or purchased is deposited in an outdoor area, not covered, exposed to atmospheric agents.

For economic reasons, new or used wooden pallets are often taken into consideration, to deposit the big bags with the goods to be sold in the warehouse, without worrying too much the origin of the wood and its phytosanitary situation, unless specifically requested for shipments to certain countries.

In a warehouse with medium or high turnover, the quality of the wood that makes up the pallet is normally controlled mainly for a matter of mechanical strength of the pallet.

The robustness is checked at the expense of the duration, as, in this warehouse condition, it is a parameter that is not totally necessary.

If, on the other hand, the warehouse has a low or very low turnover of goods, the durability of the wooden pallet becomes an aspect to be carefully checked.

In fact, the permanence of the pallets in the warehouse are not only subject to atmospheric agents, but it may also happen that you have to consider the presence of mushrooms, bacteria or insects that they could live inside the pallet, reducing its quality.

Above all it is necessary to keep in mind the size of the warehouse, expressed in number of pallets deposited and the permanence of the same over time. The higher these two numbers, the greater the risks on the durability of the wood.

The wooden pallets are subject to the attack of numerous elements that tend to feed on the wood itself, or to colonize the structure with the danger of infecting the still healthy pallets .

The most common organisms and parasites that we can encounter are:

• Lictidi

• Bark beetles

• Buprestidi

• Nematodes

• Weevils

• Anobidi

• Siricides

• Cerambicides

• Edemeridi

• Isoptera

• Scolitidi

The purchase of pallets not treated from a phytosanitary point of view, involves the risk, over time, of making possible a general contamination of the warehouse, with a possible increase in storage and handling costs for the possible replacement of deteriorated pallets, not to mention the probability of not being able to guarantee the stability of the big bags at the time of replacement.

The problem can be solved by purchasing, always, pallets which have been subjected to thermal or chemical phytosanitary treatment (spray, immersion or pressure), or fumigation or other interventions foreseen by the IPPC certification.

If the purchase of pallets treated from a phytosanitary point of view helps to increase their durability against parasites and insects, there is also the variable rain, dew, frost or all those atmospheric conditions that allow the wooden pallet to absorb water.

In these cases, in a warehouse with low or very low turnover, it may be advisable to consider a plastic pallet, which is not subject to weather problems, excluding the frost and the sun.

To overcome these two drawbacks, it is important to inquire about the quality of the plastic used to inject the pallet, which must have sufficient elasticity, as well as good compressive strength and flexion.

Furthermore, for this type of warehouse, it is advisable to purchase plastic pallets that contain an anti U.V. of at least 12 months, which can be obtained by inserting specific additives during production or by increasing the carbon black in the polymer mixture, if the pallet is black.

Automatic translation. We apologize for any inaccuracies. Original article in Italian