PalletLab · Reference
Palletizing software: what are we talking about?
Two trades with similar names and almost nothing in common. Here is which one you are looking for, said plainly.
Two trades, two kinds of software
“Palletizing” and “making a pallet” sound alike and have almost nothing in common. Palletizing software works out how to place your goods on a pallet. PalletLab designs and costs the pallet itself. If you are after the former, you are in the wrong place, and we would rather say so straight away.
| You want to… | That is called | The tool you need |
|---|---|---|
| Arrange cases on a pallet, work out a layer pattern, a pallet fill rate | palletizing | Palletizing software (search for “ palletizing software ” or “ pallet pattern ») |
| Design a pallet, a crate or a bulk bin, calculate its cost price and issue a quote | wooden packaging design | PalletLab |
| Find out how many pallets fit in a lorry or a container | loading plan | Both. PalletLab does this, see below |
The distinction fits in one sentence: palletizing software is for whoever ships the goods. PalletLab is for whoever builds the packaging they travel on.
And for stacking the cartons?
How many cartons on the pallet, in how many layers, in what order: that is the job of PalletLab Palletization, a second product we are opening as a trial version. It is sold separately from PalletLab.
The one shared ground: the loading plan
On one point the two trades meet: how many units go out in a vehicle. PalletLab calculates it from the real internal dimensions of each vehicle, not from a rough ratio.
| Vehicle | On the floor | Optimised | Stacked ×3 | Payload |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Semi-trailer (13.6 m) | 33 | 34 | 102 | 24,0 t |
| Rigid truck 19 t | 12 | 12 | 36 | 11,5 t |
| Rigid truck 12 t | 9 | 9 | 27 | 7,0 t |
| 20' container | 9 | 9 | 27 | 21,7 t |
| 40' container | 20 | 20 | 60 | 26,7 t |
| 40' High Cube container | 20 | 20 | 60 | 26,5 t |
Euro pallet 1200 × 800 × 144 mm, 25.3 kg each. PalletLab calculation.
What PalletLab does not do: it does not work out the arrangement of your goods on the pallet. It thinks in whole units, pallets, crates, bulk bins, not in cases to be stacked.
If you make the pallets, on the other hand
You draw the model in 3D, the cost price is calculated as you adjust the dimensions, and the quote goes out the same day it is asked for, with no spreadsheet and no re-keying. Timber, labour, fasteners, ISPM 15 treatment: every item is broken down and checkable on a calculator.