There has always been a need to build pallets consisting of different SKUs. This is particularly evident in the beverage and food industry, where warehouses handle various types of SKU cases in different sizes and characteristics, such as cans, plastic and glass bottles, tetra paks, and kegs. With retailers seeking to offer a wide variety of choices to their consumers, distributors are tasked with meeting this demand.
Mixed palletizing is commonly employed for B2B shipments, such as "replenishments" to small shops. In this scenario, the shop purchases multiple products, but not in full-pallet quantities. This form of palletizing helps warehouses manage a variety of items, like beverages, industrial supplies, or pharmaceuticals, all in one shipment, streamlining order fulfillment.
Mixed palletizing, also known as mixed-case, mixed load, or mixed SKU palletizing—is the process of arranging different products, each with unique sizes and shapes, onto a pallet or pallets for shipment. This method not only accommodates varied consumer preferences but also optimizes the shipping and handling process.
There are two main approaches to mixed palletizing:
Typically, warehouses handle mixed palletizing manually in pick and pack operations - during a pick tour workers will pick different-sized SKUs from racks and shelves and arrange them directly onto pallets.
During a pick tour, workers receive a list of all the picks that need to be made, along with the warehouse location next to every SKU. Case picking is often part of this process, where individual cases or cartons of products are selected and placed on pallets.
Experienced pickers often rely on their knowledge of how products look and which SKUs would form the first layers of the pallets. However, on average, it takes new pickers 2-3 months to achieve the productivity levels of an experienced picker. Despite this, warehouses are increasingly relying on temporary warehouse workers with high turnover rates. For inexperienced pickers, this task becomes very complex, leading to 2 errors:
The manual way leads to inconsistent pallet builds and product damage. This type of palletizing quickly reaches its limits in terms of accuracy and efficiency.
To increase picking productivity, you can take advantage of AI-assisted picking guidance that combines the following:
This solution is the combination of 2 warehouse optimization solutions working together with humans in pick and pack operations:
Integrate within your warehouse management system (WMS) and have a flexible, cost-effective approach to optimization, enabling you to adapt and scale with minimal upfront investment.
Book a quick call to discover how it works.
In pick and pack operations, workers pick items from storage and stack them directly onto pallets during a pick tour.
It's stacking different products (SKUs) on a single pallet for shipment.
Unstable pallets, long pick paths, product damage, and inconsistent performance.
It entirely depends on your process. Typically it can be anywhere from 2 weeks to 3 months to match experienced pickers' productivity.
Yes, warehouse optimization software can guide workers in picking and stacking to improve speed and pallet stability.
Yes. Using software that gives visual instructions helps new pickers get productive faster.