Switching from pallets to slip sheets offers significant benefits to many businesses. Slip sheets increase the sustainability of tertiary packaging for brands that are working to increase sustainability across their entire enterprise.
Like many other sustainability initiatives, it presents a chance to save cost as well.
Top Industries also offers slip sheet forklift for the purpose of material handling that is used by many warehouses.
However, according to a random poll of packaging professionals, 80% of packaging managers have no idea what slip sheets are!
What is a slip sheet?
A flat sheet of corrugated board, solid fibreboard, or plastic sheet having tabs on more than one side is referred to as a slip sheet. It can be used as an alternative to conventional wooden pallets for unitizing the load during storage and transportation in warehouses.
A forklift truck equipped with a unique hydraulic push-pull attachment is necessary to use slip sheet.
A gripper available on the hydraulic clamps the tab once the shippers will be stacked with the load on your slip sheet, which pulls your weight on the forklift tines.
Now when your forklift will move to its desired location, the hydraulic arms will push the load also along with the slip sheet off the forks. Also, the gripper will release the tab.
To facilitate this kind of smooth operation, both the top and bottom surfaces of your slip sheet will be characterised by a dual COF (Coefficient of Friction).
Cost-saving benefits offered by slip sheets
- Acquisition cost
Fibre slip sheets lower the cost of purchase. The price of solid fibre slip sheets varies depending on their size, thickness, and quantity ordered.
Costs for wooden pallets range from $6 to $12 per unit. Since wooden pallets are 6 to 12 times more expensive, solid fibre slip sheets are far less expensive.
- Transportation cost
Slip sheets lower the cost of transportation. More than 100 slip sheets can fit on a single pallet. A slip sheet typically weighs 2 pounds. An average wooden pallet weighs around 60 pounds.
- Labour cost
If you manually load your trailers, using slip sheets will significantly lower your costs of labour by automating your loading process. 3 workers will need 6 hours to floor load a trailer. This amounts to 18-man hours in total. Comparatively, loading a trailer with slip sheets will take one man only half an hour.
- Storage cost
Warehouse space will be freed up through slip sheets. One wooden pallet will occupy the same space as 150 slip sheets.
- Administrative cost
Administrative expenses will be reduced using slip sheets. One unitized load is transported to its destination using a slip sheet, which is disposable.
This saves the hassle of keeping track of your wooden pallets, fighting with clients about missing pallets, and shelling out money to repair and return any used pallets.
- Worker injuries
Slip sheets reduce workplace accidents. They make the workplace safe by preventing avoidable injuries when carrying bulky wooden pallets.
To know more about further developments on slip sheets at Top Industries, you can visit their official YouTube videos.
