ixs-pal® pallets can withstand loads of 6-8 tons (BCT) and are 5 times lighter than wooden pallets. Interview with Rustem Karimov, CEO and Founder of Karimov GmbH
Rustem, how do you see the near future of corrugated board plants?
On the one hand, the corrugated board industry is a fairly conservative sector that has been developing according to its own laws for more than 100 years; on the other hand, corrugated cardboard is an absolutely unique product, I have been working with it for 27 years and never cease to be amazed at its features.
I believe that the future of the corrugated cardboard industry is excellent, as is its goal – to bring maximum benefit to human life and improve it. The corrugated industry will always be based on the needs of the consumer, but sometimes you need a fresh look to see something new in familiar things.
This is exactly what happened to me in Spain, when, passing by vegetable stalls, I saw a man sitting on an overturned corrugated tray. Then it dawned on me: how strong this tray is, following the same principle, I can make corrugated cardboard pallets!
I have always been annoyed by the presence of wooden pallets in corrugated board business, they look just awful next to paper packaging. My ideas have been further developed, and since 2017 I have not only been thinking, but also actively working in this direction.
Our company has already implemented the production of pallets and containers from corrugated cardboard, special designs for commodity storage, etc. If you are not afraid of your ideas, you can achieve incredible results.
Quick fact: A 1200×800 mm ixs-pal® pallet made of double wall corrugated cardboard (composed of 4 elements) carries up to 6-8 tons in static. In the BST tests, one pallet element withstands a load of 1.5-2 tons until complete destruction. Thus, corrugated cardboard pallets have a very good load-bearing capacity, which only needs to be preserved during operation
https://youtu.be/PFq9RYuakOg
Let’s get back to the technologies of the future. About 10 years ago I visited the BHS manufacturing plant in Germany where I saw a then closed project of printing the top liner directly in the corrugator before gluing it to the single face web. I was inside this big printer and saw how the operation proceeded.
Printing on a liner, and not on the finished corrugated cardboard, has many advantages: the mechanics of corrugated cardboard does not deteriorate, in small runs it is possible to print immediately on the entire width of the web, plus all the benefits of digital printing.
With this operation, the manufacturer virtually eliminates printing from converting lines, saves on plates, inks, washing of printing units, etc. Even if we talk about the most advanced printers that print very quickly and efficiently, this technology is still two steps ahead. Today, one company has already bought and launched such a corrugator.
From the same category is the ability for factories to ship products on their own corrugated pallets. By optimizing technological processes, we save wood, improve the production sustainability, the quality of product movement by forklifts, increase automation, etc.
https://youtu.be/it5ZAxms8rE
When, you think, will this technology become widespread in the corrugated industry?
In the early days of corrugated packaging, I repeatedly heard from my senior colleagues how they came to factories and convinced management how much more profitable it was to use cardboard boxes and trays instead of wooden ones. It was quite difficult for them to break established habits, but years passed, and corrugated cardboard containers became the norm.
Corrugated pallet is the same evolution from wood to corrugated cardboard, although the idea itself is not new and there are factories already producing them. But our goal is not to offer companies to produce pallets within a corrugated pallet factory, but to promote the concept of compact embedded production in-house. In the maximum configuration, our equipment occupies an area of no more than 25 sqm.
I dream that pallegators would be included in the classic set of equipment for corrugated board plants along with palletizers, prefeeders, etc. For corrugated packaging producers, this means not only independence from suppliers of wooden pallets, but also additional sales: both when shipping their packaging, and also when supplying pallets as products to customers, who will buy them as blanks and then fold and glue them in their own factories. After all, when a commodity producer begins to receive corrugated packaging on such interesting pallets, he will certainly try to fit them into his own production cycle, and then put them into circulation.
You have very interestingly told how this idea was born. The pallet is folded according to the same principle as a corrugated cardboard box, but in practice the development took many years. What stages did you go from idea to pallegator?
The first thing I faced was to come up with the most rational solution. The production had to meet certain criteria: minimum waste from the 2100 mm sheet, optimally cut blanks with multiple angles for maximum rigidity. It was also not easy to achieve compact production and assembly, so we first made the support parts, and only then glued them into pallets.
I have three children with whom I often played Lego at that time. I think this is where I got the idea to assemble compact pallets from standard parts. But it still took a long time to bring these solutions to life and get a reliable and easy-to-use product.
I was lucky to meet an experienced machine builder who got excited about this idea. But when the equipment was installed and production began, new challenges arose: it was necessary to ensure that the pallets could be stored on racks. We experimented a lot and as a result today our corrugated pallet, mounted on two points of support, can withstand weights up to 450 kg.
What are the differences for forklift operators between handling wooden pallets and corrugated pallets?
I read an article on this subject at IKEA. The company noted that after switching to cardboard pallets, glassware breakage decreased from 1% to less than 1%.
According to IKEA, this was due to more responsible handling of cardboard pallets by forklift drivers. They intuitively treated cardboard more carefully, while wooden pallets could be hit, dragged along the floor with forks, etc.
Does the corrugated pallet damp shaking as well?
Undoubtedly. Not without reason, cardboard pads, edges, etc. are used with many types of goods, protecting them from shock during transportation. As a rule, a corrugated cardboard sheet is also placed on a wooden pallet to isolate the product from a hard surface and create a cushion.
What is the resource of corrugated pallets?
Like any corrugated packaging, this is a one-time product, which is repeatedly used depending on condition. If the ixs-pal® pallet is carefully treated, then it has every chance for second and third lives.
Choose the right material + add right design + treat it with care = reusability.
Your pallegator is currently being tested at a large packaging plant. How are the tests going?
So far, so good. We are honing both the technology of the product and the machine-building part. On manufactured corrugated pallets, not only corrugated packaging is transported, but also various bags and containers. It is better when the transported product has corners. We continue to gain experience.
Would you like to wish something to the Readers?
Let’s dream big and let our dreams come true!