CPULD's first in-person short course since 2019 was a great success!

In November 2021, The Center for Packaging and Unit Load Design (CPULD) offered its first in-person short course since 2019. The newly developed Advanced Wood Pallet Design short course was held in conjunction with the National Wooden Pallet and Container Association (NWPCA) and was an intensive three-days of classes that taught attendees techniques that could help them save money when designing pallets by considering the interactions between all of the components of the material handling system.

The instructors (Dr. Laszlo Horvath, CPULD Director; Dr. Brad Gething, VP NWPCA; and Kristen DeLack, professional engineer, NWPCA) informed attendees about the advanced principles of pallet design, how to conduct material handling audits, and the basics of packaging and pallet design as well as material handling systems. They learned about the interactions between material handling equipment, packaging, and pallets, as well as how to diagnose and solve their material handling problems. The course used a state-of-the-art pallet design software called the “Pallet Design System” (PDS) to better demonstrate the steps that go into the pallet design process.

This course had 34 people registered for it. Attendees were from all over the USA, including CA, FL, GA, KY, MN, NC, NY, OH, PA, SC, TX, WI, as well as from Canada, Scotland, and Mexico. Everyone had great discussions about pallets! And while this course was designed to be delivered in-person, CPULD also offered a virtual option with live participation. Webcams and virtual meeting softwares were used to include the approximately 50% online attendees in the live assignments and discussions.

The Advanced Wood Pallet Design short course received high grades on the satisfaction survey that was conducted after the course. Of those who responded, 94% felt that the course provided all the knowledge they had come to learn, and said that they would be recommending the course to others in their company and industry.

Pallet design is an integral part of the material handling system. Wood pallet suppliers, designers, and sales professionals, professionals responsible for pallet purchasing, packaging engineers and pallet specifiers, as well as corrugated box designers all benefited from gaining an understanding of how to design pallets that last longer and perform better.

If you are interested in learning more about the short courses that CPULD offers, please visit the continuing education page: https://www.unitload.vt.edu/education/continuing-education.html

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