Should you consider using bespoke pallets in your business?

As the person responsible for sourcing pallets (and associated packaging) at your business, you may have asked whether you should consider bespoke-sized pallets.

Bespoke pallets are custom-produced to the specific size you require. Bespoke-size pallets are popular for large products and parts, or for items that are difficult to ship. Loads on oversized pallets are often referred to as “ugly freight” in the transport industry. Their use for custom composite packaging is also common.

In this guide, we’ll assess the advantages and disadvantages of bespoke pallets, helping you make an informed decision on whether they are suitable for your specific shipping or packaging application.

For the correct application, there can be significant benefits to using custom-sized pallets. The advantages of bespoke pallets include:

• Being able to accommodate large or oversized products.
• Improved weight distribution and safety for difficult items.
• Increased space efficiency.
• Reduction in transport costs.
• Improvements in sustainability.
• Allows for increased optimisation of packaging.

The primary use of bespoke pallets is to size them to accommodate a specific product. This dimensional flexibility is essential for larger or bulky items that do not fit on a standard-sized pallet.

Bespoke pallets can also be manufactured to a specific strength for particularly heavy items.

As a result, bespoke pallets (and custom pallet boxes) are commonplace in aerospace, heavy engineering, and industrial manufacturing industries.

Similarly, accommodating the size of a product is sometimes difficult because the weight distribution of a product or part makes handling on a standard-size pallet difficult.

Using a bespoke-size pallet allows you to manage any difficulties and enables easier, safer handling by forklift drivers and transport providers.

It is not unusual for larger products to fit on a standard-size pallet, leaving much of the available space unused (e.g., it only takes up 70% of the available footprint). In this scenario, there is 30% empty space for every pallet stored in your warehouse.

Bespoke pallets can eliminate this, allowing much more efficient use of space.

Similar to storage, tailoring your pallet size to the product you are shipping can enable more efficient transport (and, in turn, lower costs).

By maximising the number of products you can fit into a single shipment and not paying for the effective transport of fresh air, you can see significant reductions in your transport costs.

A reduction in transport costs – through improved efficiency – tends to go hand in hand with lower emissions.

As a result, the overall sustainability of your packaging and shipping operations improves. This advantage is particularly true if using timber pallets, as these are often reusable across multiple trips, are recyclable, and can be part of FSC-certified packaging (using material from sustainable sources).

A final way bespoke pallets can help your business is through improved pallet optimisation.

If it is not possible for your staff to efficiently stack the packaging of smaller, individual units you are shipping in bulk on a pallet, this can also result in wasted space in transit. Whilst pallet-optimised boxes are crucial here, sometimes looking at the pallet size you are using is the easiest way to improve your operations.

Although bespoke pallets are a must in some applications and can yield significant benefits in others, many scenarios call for standard-size pallets.

The disadvantages of using bespoke pallets include:

• Higher purchasing costs.
• Longer lead times.
• Inefficient storage and shipping.
• Rejection by transport providers or customers.

Standard-size pallets are an “off-the-shelf” product, with manufacturers able to mass-produce them cost-effectively. Bespoke pallets, however, are usually made in lower volumes without the same efficiencies or economies of scale.

As a result, bespoke pallets cost more than standard pallets. However, you must consider the additional upfront cost against the potential savings you could make (e.g., through improved transport efficiency).

Being manufactured bespoke also means custom pallets have longer lead times than standard pallets (which suppliers often hold in stock).

If you choose to use bespoke pallets, you must ensure you have planned your expected usage and stock level requirements.

Although bespoke pallets can lead to more efficient transport and storage, they can also be less efficient.

Confused? Well, most transport providers are set up to accommodate standard-size pallets, meaning they are generally efficient by default. Whilst custom pallets eliminate wasted space on the pallet, they may lead to wasted space in the truck or shipping container instead, negating any benefit.

As such, if you are not using a bespoke pallet to accommodate an oversized item, careful analysis of the whole supply chain is required.

Some transport providers may not be able to accommodate custom-sized pallets. The reasons can include potential inefficiency, as detailed earlier, but can also be because they do not have suitable equipment to handle them.

This latter point may be equally true of your customers, who can’t manoeuvre or store custom pallets because of their existing warehouse setup.

Bespoke pallets are essential for shipping large or particularly heavy and bulky items. They are often the only solution for some products or parts.

Whilst you can use custom pallets to optimise your pallet packaging, there are various factors to consider before deciding whether they are right for your business or application.

As bespoke size pallet manufacturers, GWP can advise on whether using a custom size would be the best option for your business. If you are considering a switch or have an upcoming project that requires bespoke pallets, please get in touch with our team of packaging experts.