How do products fit in a carton, or what carton sizes are needed to ship an order? When cartons are packed they may need to be stacked on a pallet. How do you stack them in the most efficient way, and how many and which pallet types do you need? The pallets will need to be loaded on a trailer or in a container. Where should pallets be placed, how many pallet spots do you need, and is there any loose loading? 3D Load Building software solutions give you answers to all these questions, and more.
1. Product Design
How products are designed impacts how they will be shipped. Small alterations can have minimal impact on the product, but maximum impact on shipping it. 3D Load Building software solutions will show you the impact of design decisions on carton size or pallet load. For example, adding an internal support bracket allows for storing items flat instead of upright on a pallet. Changing the dimensions slightly might create full layers instead of leaving a few inches short of an additional product on the layer. Now 10 cartons can be stored on a pallet instead of 8. That reduces the shipping space required by 25%.
2. Packaging Design
What goes for product design also goes for packaging design. The way products are packaged impacts how they are stacked on a pallet. A 3D Load Building solution allows you to run any number of simulations with real live data to determine the logistics costs for different packaging design choices. You might find that using a heavier quality cardboard for cartons allows you to stack 4 layers instead of 3 layers on a pallet, which saves 33% on the total volume shipped. Shipping less empty space in the carton also might result in more efficient packing on a pallet – saving packaging costs and transportation costs. 3D Load Building solutions will help you determine what the ideal size is.
3. PO Sizing vs. Transportation Capacity
Saving money starts at your purchasing department. Ordering full cartons, full layers, full pallets, or full truckloads allows for efficient picking, packing, palletizing, stacking, and truck loading which lowers logistics costs. Sizing your purchase order so the shipment is a full truckload, instead of receiving an additional partial shipment at extra cost or receiving a less than full truck load, will avoid paying for the transportation of air. 3D Load Building solution will allow you to optimize order size.
4. Perfect Shipment
Creating the Perfect Shipment can be automated from order creation to fulfillment. The Perfect Shipment needs minimal handling (full cartons instead of item picking, stock pallets instead of multi-item pick pallets, and full truck loads instead of partial loads). Automating the creation of a Perfect Shipment minimizes human effort on standard steps and frees up time for exception handling. Use a 3D Load Building solution to help you create the Perfect Shipment.
5. Transportation Planning
The earlier you book your freight, the lower the cost. If you book too much, you are paying for pallet spots that you are not using. If you book too little, you pay even more to get additional space. Booking a truck today for tomorrow, or worse – finding same-day transportation capacity – is much more expensive. With a 3D Load Building solution you will accurately predict the number of pallet spots required in advance, so you know the exact number of trucks and when you will need them.
6. Carton Selection for Sales Orders
Load building starts on the carton level. A 3D Load Building solution will correctly estimate the size of the carton you need to package your sales order can save costs. If you overestimate size, you are shipping air, or if you need to use filler material to protect your products, you use unnecessary filler material. If you underestimate the size, you may need to repack the sales order, which costs valuable time, or use multiple cartons, which leads to additional transportation costs. The same holds for pallets (ship full layers or preferably full pallets) and full truck loads.
7. Pallet Building
Regardless of odd sized or same sized items, you want to stack as much on a pallet as possible within the rules posed by product characteristics, customer demand, and legal rules. Adding another pallet adds to the number of pallet spots and that adds cost. But there is another reason you want to know what goes on a pallet in advance – you can use the information to accurately predict the number of pallet spots you need. No pallet gets left behind, and no full truck load is ordered when a partial load will suffice. For further consideration is the speed with which a truck is loaded: if the load plan is made in advance, there are less errors. Forklift drivers follow the loading instructions and rules – versus creating their own loading plan, which results in loading more quickly.
8. Forklift Drivers for Load Building
With staff hard to find, expensive to train, and hard to retain, it helps to simplify the job. Proper load planning removes the planning skill from the qualification checklist of your forklift drivers. This opens up the job to people who might otherwise not qualify, but now will be able to execute and be satisfied on the job. Both company and staff win. 3D Load Planning provides smart load planning and takes the workload off your team members.
9. Load Building Rules
In many warehouses, loading rules are applied in a rigorous and standard way. At least, until they are confronted with reality. Of course, rules like “adhere to dangerous goods requirements” or “stay within container dimensions” are maintained, due to legal requirements or the physical constraints of the transportation units. But spend a couple of hours at a loading dock and it becomes clear that, while some general guidelines are followed, creativity in loading is well and alive. A clear loading plan from a 3D Load Building solution will eliminate on-the-fly decisions and increase compliance.
10. Transportation Cost Estimates
3D Load Building enables you to accurately predict transportation cost, such as knowing in advance how much space you need. This gives you an advantage in both your sales process and your order taking process. Your quotations will be more accurate, and you save costs by matching the quantity ordered to the required number of pallet spots. There’s no need to add unnecessary safety margins that raise the price you offer your customer and no unnecessary loss because transportation costs are higher than originally estimated.
11. Order Split / Smart Ordering
In the current IT landscapes, creating a sales order in the ordering system, transferring it to the warehousing system for picking and loading, and then transferring it to the transport management system is relatively straightforward. If somewhere at the end of the flow a change needs to be made, propagating the change back up the chain can be anything but easy. It’s much better to split / size the order at sales order entry. A 3D Load Building solution allows for less complex interfacing (saves on ICT spent) and removes the need for unwanted communication and extra work.
12. Weight Distribution in the Trailer
When loading a trailer, weight distribution is a critical factor. Load building ensures trailers are properly loaded to distribute weight evenly from side to side, ensuring that trailers are more stable, and products don’t get displaced in transit. And looking back to front, pallets and/or loose items should be placed such that the axle weight limitations are honored, so that there is not too much weight on a single axle. Proper distribution improves safety and helps you avoid fines. 3D Load Building ensures safe and stable loading.
13. Trailer Loading Efficiency
Just as with a carton or a pallet, you want to ship as little air as possible in a trailer. The more you can fit in a trailer, the less trailers you need. 3D Load Building helps you minimize the number of trailers you need by instructing the warehouse how to load pallets over multiple trailers. And even more important if you want happy customers: no pallet gets left behind because the trailer was full.
Conclusion
By implementing these 13 strategies for reducing costs through 3D load building, companies have the opportunity to significantly enhance their operational efficiency, minimize transportation expenses, and ultimately improve their bottom line. Embracing advanced technology, optimizing load configurations, and leveraging data-driven insights are essential steps in staying ahead in today's competitive landscape. As businesses continue to navigate complex supply chain challenges, the adoption of innovative load building solutions offers a pathway to sustainable cost reductions and enhanced logistics performance. By integrating these tactics into their operations, organizations position themselves for long-term success and resilience in an ever-evolving market.
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