A leading global paint manufacturer has saved £1 million per year by rectifying ongoing movement in transport (MIT) issues.
The paint manufacturer, which has a longstanding heritage of more than 200 years, was looking to invest in new machinery. However, before making the commitment, it called on the help of pallet stability and stretch wrap packaging experts, Lindum to identify why its 10L tins of paint were being damaged in transit.
Utilising the UK’s first mobile pallet stability testing facility, Lindum visited the manufacturer’s site in Hull to perform rigorous tests and identify why the 10L tins of paint were continually being returned to base damaged.
Lindum visited the manufacturer’s head office in Lancashire to perform rigorous tests and identify why the 10L tins of paint were continually being returned to base damaged.
Having already performed more than 1,000 tests since its launch in 2022, Lindum’s mobile test lab was able to identify the root cause of the manufacturer’s ongoing MIT issues, without disrupting daily operations at the manufacturing site.
Testing revealed that incorrect stacking formations were impacting overall pallet stability, and further off-site investigations at Lindum’s innovation centre identified that a more efficient use of pallet wrapping would not only mitigate MIT issues but also allow the company to distribute more paint at any given time.
Rick Sellars, Sales Manager at Lindum said: “Using the mobile test lab, we were able to replicate the manufacturer’s current packing process and use a real-life simulator to identify the stresses placed upon the load during road transit. A camera measures and records the deflection and movements with real-time feedback, so that adjustments can be made to make the pallet more secure and prevent product damage.
“In addition, the team at our innovation centre was able to identify where further adjustments could be made by switching stretch hoods to stretch wrap, further improving overall pallet stability.
The film we developed was a robust Nano stretch that provided a much higher holding force than the standard film stretch hood being used previously, with the same amount of overall plastic. The tensile strength of the Nano solution we provided meant pallet stability was greatly improved.
“The results achieved were significant. By being able to test and improve pallet stability, we were able to give the paint manufacturer the confidence they needed to invest in new packaging machinery across their manufacturing site.
“We also identified that changing the stacking formation used for 10L paint tins not only improves overall stability, but it also allows the manufacturer to dispatch 60 tins per pallet rather than 48. Overall, we managed to save the team over £1 million per year in transportation costs and improve efficiency.”
