Introducing INKA’s new plastic automation pallet, the PDP1208 HO CR Q1. Similar to its popular high load capacity cousin, the PDP1208 HO Q1, it is capable of seriously heavy duty loads with excellent rigidity in open beam racking. And now this plastic pallet model is available with sonic welded, smooth runners, meaning that it is recognised by all automated racking system lasers, where hollow feet can sometimes present an issue.

What’s the big deal with closed runner pallets?

Plastic pallets have always been regarded  as the perfect partner for automated pallet racking in theory; their consistent dimensions, tare weights, and shape retention, as well as their superior durability, make them an ideal upgrade on timber pallets in automation. Moreover, they don’t shed foreign bodies, shed splinters or have wonky boards or nails like traditional timber pallets, which can all be the bain of a system engineers’ life, causing costly stoppages and breakdowns in the system. However, some automated system integrators have designed their laser readers to register the pallet from the underside (block or runner), which can present a problem for using standard single shot ‘mono-bloc’ plastic pallets. Mono-bloc pallets tend to have hollow feet and structural ribs on their underside, rather than a flat surface (such as with a timber pallet plank/board/bearers).

Therefore with the increasing necessity of retailers and producers to stay competitive in the face of increasing production and staffing costs, smart warehousing and automated pallet racking is booming and showing no sign of slowing down. But with timber pallet construction plagued by issues laid out above, there is a demand on both system integrators to make their laser sensors more accommodating for single-shot plastic pallets, and similarly for plastic pallets made with closed runners to be utilised in existing ‘timber focussed’ automated systems.

Closed runners on pallets do necessarily include an additional production process, which does make them more expensive, but the trade off is that it can sure up the rigidity and the durability of the pallet, as well as make the runners more hygienic and easy to keep clean, which can be very important within pharmaceutical applications where pallets need to be easily cleanable. And we are confident that the PDP1208 HO CR Q1 is probably the best pound-for-pound euro plastic pallet available with closed runners.