Quick Pallet Maker Help

Quick Pallet Maker Preferences

The first step that a user should take when running Quick Pallet Maker for the first time is to set up the user preferences. This window is available from the Tools menu (Windows and Mac Classic) or from the Quick Pallet Maker menu (Mac OSX).

General Settings

The first of the settings allows the user to select the default units between mm, cm and inches for length and kilograms or pounds for weight.

The next item is a checkbox that if selected will save the last input file and open an identical file each time the user calls for a new document. The settings in this file will override the default pallet and default units. This is specially useful when working with customized case widths.

The third item in this tab is a pull-down menu from which the user chooses the default thickness of the pallet supports: top cap, corner posts and layer dividers. This default thickness is expressed in the different types of standard board flutes.

A checkbox at the bottom of this tab allows the user to choose whether the boxes will be shifted to the pallet borders in display pallets. In this case, there will be some slack between boxes to make sure that the load dimensions are equal to the shipping pallet dimensions, adding stability to the load.

A pull-down menu is used for selecting which case view (e.g. open case) would the user want to see first when recalculating data.

The last control on this first tab is the "check for updates" box. When checked, Quick Pallet Maker will not try to connect to the internet to see if there is a newer version available.

Colors

Quick Pallet Maker presents a tab where the user can change the default color of each one of the packaging items in his/her shipping pallet. The color options that can be changed by clicking on any of the colored squares are the followng:

Primary Package colors: The four options span the rectangular container sides and top besides the cylindrical container top.
Container (as in box)
Internal box divider: Clicking this square will change the partitions' colors.
Layer pads, top cap and corner posts
Pallet color

Custom language in Report Text

Although Quick Pallet Maker is currently available in five different languages, the detailed packaging report can be saved in any language or special terminology. This feature lets the user translate each phrase in the report, save the translation and then select the custom language option to display the modified text in the report. The top selector allows to choose between the default language (in this case; English) and the custom language (whichever you pick). The table at the bottom provides the user with a list of the phrases that are included in the report. In the first column and in the second column in the custom language.

To edit or add a translation,

Select the appropriate row and the translation will appear in the text box at the bottom (if there is any).
Type the text in the box and change to another row to view how the new text has been added.

Constraints

Quick Pallet Maker saves plenty of calculation time by leaving out unlikely box sizes, based on the relations between their dimensions, maximum and minimum sizes and other constraints. The third tab (constraints) contains all the defaults for these restrictions.

The values in this tab will update to reflect your default units. If the default unit is changed, the program will inform the user that the units will be converted. If the user changes the units during the course of his/her work, these values will not affect the program operation.

The constraints contained in this tab are the following:

Maximum Primary Package Length: Prevents the user from typing a large value for the PP length.
Maximum Primary Package Width: Same as above but with the width.
Maximum Primary Package Height: Same as above but with the height.
Maximum Primary Package Weight: Same as above but with the width.
Maximum Pallet Length: Restriction for the length of the pallet itself, not the pallet load.
Maximum Pallet Width
Maximum Pallet Height
Maximum Pallet Weight
Maximum Case Weight: This feature was introduced to prevent the user from designing cases that were impossible to handle by operators and/or didn't comply with worker health standards (e.g. OSHA).
Length/Width Ratio: (Minimum and Maximum) Prevents the user from designing a too narrow box or one that is wider than it is long.
Length/Height Ratio: (Minimum and Maximum) Prevents from designing a too tall (unstable) or too short (hard to handle) box.
Height/Width Ratio: (Minimum and Maximum) Same with above.

Help Index