Increasing the Stack Height of Palletised Canned Beer to Reduce Warehousing Costs

10 July 2009

Challenge

To evaluate the opportunity and safety of stacking canned beer products four pallets high in the warehouse.

Approach

A major UK brewer consulted Pira regarding the possibility of increasing the utilisation of existing warehousing through increasing beer can pallet stack heights from three to four high pallet loads. Substantial contract warehousing costs would be avoidable if such pallet stacking were possible and safe.

Pira Consulting conducted a thorough investigation of the loads encountered by individual beer cans in three and four pallet high stacks of pallet load canned beer. A number of variables were investigated including can type, can location in pallet, product type, offset loading conditions and stack construction/deconstruction (effect of fork-lift operations).

Load cells and dummy cans were manufactured, and bespoke measurement equipment produced for the work. Complimentary warehouse and laboratory testing was conducted using the measurement apparatus and real product, covering static and dynamic load measurement.

Recommendation

As a result of the work the UK brewer was able to stack pallets four high for a number of products within their range, whilst for some products the study revealed that this would be unsafe.

Benefit

The brewer was able to minimise the use and costs associated with additional contract warehousing through peak season.