Materials Handling
Marketing Logistics
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Unit Loads
• Unit load formation equipment is used to
restrict materials so that they maintain their
integrity when handled a single load during
transport and for storage.
Source: College Industry Council on Material Handling Education website
Types of Unit Load Equipment
• Self-restraining (no
equipment).
• Pallets.
• Skids.
• Slipsheets.
• Tote pans.
• Pallet boxes/skid boxes.
• Bins, baskets, racks.
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Cartons.
Bags.
Bulk load containers.
Crates.
Intermodal containers.
Strapping tape/glue.
Shrink-wrap/stretch wrap.
Palletizers.
Source: College Industry Council on Material Handling
Education website
Unit Loads
• Advantages
• More items can be
handled at the same time,
reducing number of trips
and, potentially, handling
costs, loading, unloading
times, product damage.
• Enables the use of
standardized material
handling equipment.
• Disadvantages
• Time spent forming and
breaking down the unit
load.
• Cost of containers/pallets
and other load restraining
materials used in the unit
load
• Empty containers/pallets
may need to be returned to
their point of origin.
Source: College Industry Council on Material Handling
Education website
Pallets
Platform with enough
clearance beneath its top
surface (or face) to enable
the insertion of forks for
subsequent
lifting purposes
Materials: Wood (most
common), paper, plastic,
rubber, and metal.
Source: College Industry Council on Material Handling
Education website
Skids
• Platform (typically metal)
with enough clearance to
enable a platform truck to
move underneath for
lifting.
• Forks can also be used to
handle skids since the
clearance of a skid is
greater than that of a pallet
• Compared to a pallet, a
skid is usually used for
heavier loads and when
stacking is not required.
Source: College Industry Council on Material Handling
Education website
Slipsheets
• Thick piece of paper,
corrugated fiber, or
plastic upon which a
load is placed.
• Tabs on the sheet are
grabbed by a special
push/pull lift truck
attachment.
Source: College Industry Council on Material
Handling Education website
Tote Pans
• Reusable container
used to unitize and
protect loose discrete
items
• Typically used for inprocess handling
• Returnable totes
provide alternative to
cartons for distribution
Source: College Industry Council on
Material Handling Education website
Pallet Boxes/Skid Boxes
Reusable container used to unitize and protect loose items for fork/platform
truck handling
Source: College Industry Council on
Material Handling Education website
Cartons
• Disposable container used to
unitize and protect loose
discrete items
• Typically used for
distribution.
• Dimensions always specified
as sequence: Length x Width
x Depth, where length is the
larger, and width is the
smaller, of the two
dimension of the open face
of the carton, and depth is
the distance perpendicular to
the length and
Source: College Industry Council on
width
Material Handling Education website
Bags
• Disposable container used to
unitize and protect bulk
materials.
• Typically used for distribution.
• Polymerized plastic ("poly")
bags available from light weight
(1 mil.) to heavy weight (6 mil.)
in flat and gusseted styles.
• Dimensions of bag specified as:
Width x Length, for flat bags,
and Width x Depth (half gusset)
x Length, for gusseted bags.
Source: College Industry Council on
Material Handling Education website
Bulk Load Containers
• Reusable container
used to unitize and
protect bulk materials.
• Includes drums,
cylinders, etc.
• Used for both
distribution and inprocess handling.
Source: College Industry Council on
Material Handling Education website
Crates
• Disposable container
used to protect discrete
items.
• Typically used for
distribution.
Source: College Industry Council on Material Handling Education website
Intermodal Container
• Reusable container used to
unitize and protect loose
discrete items.
• Enables a load to be
handled as a single unit
when it is transferred
between road, rail, and sea
modes of transport.
• It is not as common to use
intermodal containers for
airfreight transport
because of aircraft shape
and weight restrictions.
Source: College Industry Council on Material Handling Education website
Strapping/Tape/Glue
• Used for load
stabilization.
• Straps are either steel
or plastic.
• Plastic strapping that
shrinks is used to keep
loads from becoming
loose during shipment.
Source: College Industry Council on Material Handling Education website
Shrink Wrap/Stretch Wrap
• Allows irregular loads to
be stabilized.
• In shrink-wrapping, a film
or bag is placed over the
load and then heat is
applied to shrink the film
or bag.
• Most shrink-wrapping
being replaced by
stretch-wrapping, where a
film is wound around the
load while the film is
stretched.
Source: College Industry Council on Material Handling Education website
Palletizers
• Manual palletizing.
• Robotic pick-and-place palletizers.
• Conventional stripper-plate palletizers.
Manual palletizing
• Operators arrange items
into the desired pattern
used to form the unit load
• Semi-mechanized
palletizers use operators to
arrange items into the
desired pattern for each
layer of the unit load
and a powered device is
used to transfer layers
onto a pallet and then
lower the load for the next
layer.
Source: College Industry Council on Material Handling Education website
Robotic pick-and-place
palletizers
• Fully automated
device to build unit
loads.
• Used when flexibility
is required.
• Greatest limitation is
capacity.
Source: College Industry Council on Material Handling Education website
Conventional stripper-plate
palletizers: In-Line
• Fully automated device to build unit loads.
• Used when high throughput of identical loads is required.
Problem")
• Capacity is typically greater (30–180 items per minute) than
pick and place, but not as flexible.
Source: College Industry Council on Material Handling Education website
Conventional stripper-plate
palletizers – Right Angle
• Right angle" pattern
formation picture)—
very flexible patterns
are possible; can
handle a wide variety
of case sizes and
types; limited capacity
(up to 80 items per
minute); compact
design.
Source: College Industry Council on Material Handling Education website