£250k innovation centre solves damage in transit issues
Lindum Packaging is opening the doors to its £250,000 Innovation Centre, which provides an offsite solution to solve the pallet stability issues that cause goods to get damaged in transit.
The UK expert on pallet stability and wrapping has designed the centre to provide a facility that replicates its customers’ packaging operations and in-transit conditions without disrupting their day-to-day operations.
Early customer trials have delivered excellent results, the company said, meaning changes to pallet formation and stacking have allowed one customer to dispatch 60 tubs on a pallet instead of 48, saving them £1 million per year through transport and efficiency gains.
By trialling and proving the case for switching to a recycled content stretch film, Lindum has also reduced a global brewer’s virgin plastic consumption by 2,106kg per year, reduced their carbon equivalent emissions by 4,739kg and removed 471kg of pallet roll cores from their requirements.
The revolutionary 300m2 centre is coupled with Lindum’s Mobile Pallet Stability Test Lab. The facility is the first of its kind to identify and solve the problems that cause movement in transport (MIT) issues. With 750 million pallet journeys a year, MIT issues affect 11% of these journeys, leading to 82.5 million pallets arriving at their destination with some damage every year. An issue that results in huge product and financial losses for businesses.
The centre reproduces customers’ production and packaging operations and transport conditions using G force tests to replicate the stresses of a vehicle braking. Customers can send a problem pallet to Lindum who will trial multiple solutions to give scientifically accurate, data-backed results to diagnose the root problem and advise on changes to production and packaging lines.
Rick Sellars, sales manager of Lindum Packaging, said: “MIT is a major unknown issue for many businesses. We’ve been working with a global paint manufacturer to help them identify why their pallets were falling over in transit. They were wasting £250,000 on goods damaged in transit every year because of rejected deliveries, stock write-offs and additional material and transport costs.”
Packaging, transport and logistics teams will first test a pallet with Lindum’s Mobile Pallet Stability Test Lab. The innovative unit, which was launched in April last year, simulates the stresses that a loaded pallet is subject to when a vehicle brakes suddenly. A camera measures and records the deflection and movements with real-time feedback given so that adjustments can be made to make the pallet more secure and prevent product damage.
Changes and adjustments to the pallet can now be made inside the Innovation Centre, rather than being trialled by the customer. The centre is equipped with semi-automatic pallet wrapping equipment and a range of different gauge films, anti-slip sheets and protective tertiary packaging materials.
Mr Sellars added: “With the Mobile Pallet Stability Test Lab and Innovation Centre, we can show our customers exactly what they need to do to ensure that their products get from their factory to their customer in the best condition. We go beyond highlighting where customers have problems with goods getting damaged in transit and diagnose and treat the root cause to prevent the problem from arising in the future.
“Whether they’re looking to minimise the amount of stock that gets written off, or to prove the business case for investing in new pallet wrapping machinery, we can give our customers real, tangible results.”
The Innovation Centre is based at Lindum’s head office in Lincolnshire and is now open for testing.
