Unit
Load - "A single item, a number of items, or bulk material
which is arranged and restrained so that the load can be stored,
picked up, and moved between two locations as a single mass."
(Tanchoco)
Pallet Design
System (PDS)
An Introduction
to the Pallet Design System (PDS) A Method
of Improving the Efficiency of Wood Pallet Designs and Reducing
Material Handling Costs
What is
PDS?
Developed
by Virginia Tech, with additional funding from the US Forest
Service and NWPCA, the Pallet Design System is a reliability-based
design procedure for wood pallets. It is based on engineering
fundamentals, matrix structural analysis techniques, and the
results of laboratory and field testing. Estimates of pallet
(1) strength, (2) deformation, and (3) durability are generated
from user-specified descriptions of the pallet and its handling
environment. This procedure can be used to (1) estimate the
performance level of a specified pallet design or (2) assist
in the design of a pallet to meet or exceed a specified performance
level.
This design
methodology is the result of years of concentrated research
known as the Cooperative Pallet Research Program. It is a joint
effort of Virginia Tech (The William H. Sardo Jr. Pallet &
Container Research Laboratory in Blacksburg, Virginia), the
USDA Forest Service's Forest Products Laboratory in Madison,
Wisconsin, the National Wooden Pallet & Container Association
of Alexandria, Virginia, Forestry Sciences Laboratory in Princeton,
West Virginia, and APA-The Engineered Wood Association.
Since the
first version of PDS was issued by Virginia Tech in 1984, it
has been in use in more than a dozen countries including the
United States at over 150 locations. PDS has been used to design
millions of pallets, leading to improvements in material handling
efficiencies.
The
software is available for lease from:
NWPCA
- The Pallet Association
329 South Patrick Street
Alexandria, VA 22314 USA
Phone: (703) 519-6104
FAX: (703) 519-4720
