Koona Software - Quick Pallet Maker

QUICK PALLET MAKER EXAMPLES

This page contains examples of pallet calculations. If you wish to see container fill examples, please visit this link.

Calculating Boxes in Pallets:

This example explains the most basic Quick Pallet Maker operation which is to calculate how many boxes of one type fit into any given pallet. Click on the picture at right or here to open this example.

Rectangular Packages into Pallets:

This example describes how to calculate pallets from primary package dimensions, using the default data that is contained in the Input Window. The package type is rectangular. Click on the image to the right to see the full example.

Bottles In Trays And Pallets:

This example deals with the inclusion of different bottle shapes into a open tray and then into a pallet load.

How To Use Standard Cases:

This example deals with the utilization of boxes with standard dimensions (off-the-shelf boxes). The standard box list is located in a special window where boxes can be added or removed.

Alternating pallet layers:

Explains how the boxes of finished pallets can be shifted every other layer to add more stability to the pallet load.

Box Compression Calculation:

The purpose of the box compression calculations is to indicate to your box supplier the force that you will need your desired boxes to withstand, based on the pallet arrangements you have obtained with QPM. The process is very straight-forward. In this example, we have already calculated the pallets using the default data and we should see the solutions window like this.

Using The Pallet Layer Editor - Part 1:

The following screenshots and movies illustrate how the pallet Layer Editor can be used to move, add and remove boxes on a given load. In this first part, we will see how the boxes can be moved around and how we can select different layers.

Using The Pallet Layer Editor - Part 2:

The following screenshots and movies illustrate how the pallet Layer Editor can be used to move, add and remove boxes on a given load. This is the second part of the explanation.

Filling a large tray with cylinders:

A customer wants to pack 155x100 mm cylinders onto pallets but wants to do it in such a way as to fit as many as possible per layer without any constraint on delivering a specific number to each client. In other words, he wants to ship bulk cylinders somewhere.

Adding Slack to Different Case Sides:

This example is relatively quick. In some cases, a user will need to pack a product or a number of products into a box while using padding. Quick Pallet Maker allows the padding to increase the box dimensions differently in each axis.

Using Standard Cases With Compression Limit:

This example, although easy to explain, is very useful when using standard cases that you already have in your warehouse. When this is the case, they have a certain maximum compression strength that they can stand. Hence, it doesn't make sense to create a pallet arrangement that would make the cases collapse and/or damage the products. Quick Pallet Maker calculates the optimal pallet arrangement with the compression already in mind.

Using Drums as Boxes:

In one of the container load examples, we fill a container with pallets, boxes and drums. The following example explains how to save a drum as a box after calculating a pallet load.

Changing Pallet Colors:

When using standard pallets, you may want in some moments to use a different color for each of the different types of pallets. The process is described in this example.

Exporting Box Coordinates:

There are occasions in which users will want to export the box placement data from Quick Pallet Maker to an automatic/robotic palletizer or other machine/software. For this, QPM produces a list of the box x,y,z coordinates and the box orientation in a comma-delimited text file.

Pasting Box Data for Pallet Calculations:

In one of the container load examples, we paste the box data from a spreadsheet or a text file in which the data is delimited by tabs. This now can also be done through the Start From Box dimensions window.

Filling Boxes Using Default Data:

This is a quick example on how to use the box fill feature with the default data. This feature uses the primary package dimensions and fits them into the standard cases that have been edited previously. In this example, we will use the default cases in English units. Therefore, the first step is to open a new document window starting from Primary Package dimensions.

Filling Standard Boxes with Multiple-Sized Packs:

Starting from QPM version 4.1, users can fill standard-sized cases with packages of different sizes. In this example, an online bookstore needs to find which one of its standard case sizes is the best one for shipping.

Recording Box Usage:

This example is for explaining how Quick Pallet Maker logs the amount of times a given standard case is used for further analysis by the user. The first step is to run QPM and open the Standard Cases and Pallets window.

Selecting Boxes for Air Freight:

A potential customer wants Quick Pallet Maker to help him select which boxes to use for packing fish products and sending them using floor-loaded air freight. There are no restrictions in the air transport space. The only data the person has are the dimensions of the packages (220x180x48 mm) and the amounts to ship per order: 25, 30, 45, 60, etc.

Adding Slack To A Box:

Quick Pallet Maker allows the user to add slack to a box after it has been calculated. This example shows how it is done. In this case, we first open a new document window starting from primary package dimensions (from the File menu). Then, we enter the dimensions of the package and the case count.

Exporting Pallet Report Graphics To Windows Bitmap:

This example explains how to save the Detailed Report window graphics to a Windows Bitmap (.bmp) file. This same procedure is applicable to other graphics file formats on both Windows and Mac OS. The first step is to calculate a pallet, select it in the Available Solutions window and then choose "Detailed Report" from the Window menu to display the report as seen at right.

Shipping Multiple Primary Packages In Cases Of One Size:

This example deals with the shipment of a finite amount of two types of primary packages. The customer needs to figure out which is the right case size for optimizing the load. The first step is to open Quick Pallet Maker and select "Standard Cases and Pallets" from the Window menu.

Creating A Display Pallet:

This example is quite simple and quick. For a movie that describes the sequence, click here. The user wants to create a pallet to pack boxes in such a way that their longest face (not because it's sad) shows the most to anybody looking at the pallet. This is especially useful for club stores.

Adding Package Descriptions:

Quick Pallet Maker allows the user to enter a code and a description for the primary packages that are used in calculations. To do this within the application (it can also be done by editing the text input files), open a new window starting from primary packages.

Adding Box Descriptions:

Quick Pallet Maker allows the user to enter a code and a description for the box that are produced by the calculations. The first step is to open a new window starting from primary package dimensions.

Changing The Color of a Calculated Box:

Quick Pallet Maker allows you to change the color of a box you have calculated and calculate a new pallet, without having to save the file and reopen it. For this, you start by selecting a box from the list to the right of the Available Solutions window.

Calculate Multiple Boxes:

Here's a quick example for calculating pallets using multiple box sizes. The first step is to open a new document window starting from box dimensions and then changing the units to inches and pounds if they haven't been changed yet.

Producing Specific Pallet Counts with the Layer Editor:

A company needs to fill pallets with cylindrical blocks in display boxes but with a certain count per pallet. Their client is requesting that the pallets fit only 54 cases, even if they can include up to 60 items.

Calculating Pallets with Overhang:

This example explains how to load a pallet with items that overhang. In other words, the pallet contents (wooden boards) are larger than the shipping pallet itself. The first step is to run QPM and open the Preferences or Settings window. This can be reached through the Tools menu (Windows) or through the Quick Pallet Maker menu (Mac OSX). For this example, we set the units to inches/lbs and the default case view to "External View" so we can see the boards like boards instead of like open boxes (which they're not).

Changing The Carton Density:

A customer requested the ability to change the board density of the cartons that are built with Quick Pallet Maker. The default values had been 0.000569 pounds/inch² for when using Imperial units and 0.4 kg/m² for metric units. Now these values can be edited directly in the Preferences file, using a text editor. For this, we recommend MS WordPad for Windows and TextEditor for Mac OSX, both applications included with the operating system.

Using the Layer Editor - Part III:

This example describes how the pallet layer editor can be used to build a pallet with boxes laid sideways on one of its sides.

How To Create Slipsheets:

This example explains how to create slipsheets, which are thin slabs used as pallet substitutes usually made from corrugate fibreboard.

Changing The Maximum Box Weight To Create Heavy Boxes:

The purpose of this example is to explain how to bypass the box weight limitation that Quick Pallet Maker includes for preventing the creation of heavy boxes that an operator would not be able to handle.

Filling Standard Boxes With Packages:

This quick example explains how to fill standard cases (i.e. that are listed in the Standard Cases and Pallets window) with rectangular primary packages. Since we will be working with English units, the first step is to change them if this hadn't been done.

Alternating Selected Layers:

This method explains how to rotate (alternate) just the pallet layers you wish to provide stability to the pallet. This new feature, called "Rubik" was added due to requests by customers.

Creating Flatter Boxes Using Constraints:

A user wants to create boxes that have only one row of product. The default settings in Quick Pallet Maker just created boxes with two rows. To explain how to do this, we can work with the following example.