1. "Applied Lean Solutions"
January 28, 2013
"Applied Lean Solutions" is meant to make everyday industrial/commercial "Lean" topics easier to
understand and provide a fast way to see their uses and benefits and specify your needs.
Palletizing
Palletizers position products onto pallets or unit loads.
Potential Benefits:
1. Reduce load building labor costs.
2. Increase production capability.
3. Reduce lead-time.
4. Improve finished load stability and uniformity.
Typical palletizer applications:
 Placing full cases/bags of products on pallets/unit loads.
 Building loads of product in bundles, such as roofing shingles.
 Bulk palletizing containers without cases (glass, metal, plastic, fiber board, etc,).
Specifying your palletizer:
 Determine which products will be palletized.
 What are the minimum and maximum product dimensions and weights?
 What is the production rate?
 Will you use a pallet de-stacker?
 Decide what type of palletizer to utilize i.e. dedicated automation, special design, or robotics.
 Infeed elevation high or low?
 What size and style of pallet will be used?
 What dunnage will be used?
 How will the empty be pallet loaded?
 How will the full pallet empty be unloaded?
The above is a thumbnail sketch. For more information on palletizers or other "Applied Lean Solutions"
topics contact kelphick@comcast.net.
Your input is welcome, let me know what other subjects interest you.
Sincerely,
Kevin Elphick, P.E.
Industrial Engineering Services
Phone: 484-300-0373, e-mail: kelphick@comcast.net