New £250k innovation centre to address MIT issues

14-Nov-2022 - Last updated on 14-Nov-2022 at 12:25 GMT

Lindum opened its £250k innovation centre last week to address movement in transit issues

A new £250,000 innovation centre working to improve pallet stability issues that cause goods to get damaged in transit opened its doors this week.

The 300m2 facility, coupled with Lindum Packaging’s Mobile Pallet Stability Test Lab, was described as the first of its kind to identify and solve issues that cause movement in transport (MIT) issues.

It has been designed to centre to provide a facility that replicates its customers’ packaging operations and in-transit conditions without disrupting their day-to-day operations – including G force tests to replicate the stresses of a vehicle breaking.

‘Major unknown issue’

Rick Sellars, sales manager of Lindum Packaging, said: “MIT is a major unknown issue for many businesses. We've been working with a global paint manufacturer to help them identify why their pallets were falling over in transit.

“They were wasting £250,000 on goods damaged in transit every year because of rejected deliveries, stock write-offs and additional material and transport costs.”

With 750m pallet journeys a year, MIT issues affect 11% of these journeys, leading to 82.5m pallets arriving at their destination with some damage every year. An issue that results in huge product and financial losses for businesses.

Dispatched safely

“With the Mobile Pallet Stability Test Lab and Innovation Centre, we can show our customers exactly what they need to do to ensure that their products get from their factory to their customer in the best condition,” Sellars added.

“We go beyond highlighting where customers have problems with goods getting damaged in transit and diagnose and treat the root cause to prevent the problem from arising in the future. Whether they’re looking to minimise the amount of stock that gets written off, or to prove the business case for investing in new pallet wrapping machinery, we can give our customers real, tangible results.”

Meanwhile, concerns around the environmental impact of plastic packaging and restrictions in its use has forced the food and drink industry to turn to cardboard as its go-to packaging material.

However, the stability of cardboard has presented new MIT issues that lead to damaged stock, as found by Lindum in our Supply Chain Feature.