Issue link: http://palletcentral.uberflip.com/i/877664
- 10 - BREAKING NEW GROUND We have continued our collaborative outreach with Virginia Tech and their Center for Packaging and Unit Load Design, through the funding of undergraduate and graduate student research, as well as extensive contracted research. These investigations are providing vital data on the stress interactions between various containers (corrugated boxes, pails, drums, etc.) and the pallet. Meanwhile, the structural engineering team is in the process of validating a fully developed, state of the art unit load analysis with the acquired data. The unit load analysis will be able to predict how different containers change the stress distribution on a pallet, and how those stresses affect the ultimate strength of the containers. This capability will allow the PDS user to design pallets that are optimized not just from the pallet perspective, but from the container point of view as well, adding enhanced value and a tremendous savings for the customer. REACHING NEW PARTS OF THE GLOBE For years, PDS has been the standard for pallet design software in North America and in many other countries around the world. This year, NWPCA took the next step in expanding global reach by approving the development of PDS in four additional languages: Spanish, French, German, and Italian. Multi-lingual report materials and user interfaces will facilitate communication to a global audience and better serve a diverse workforce at home. We will continue our commitment to the North American user-base, as this aggressive project further solidifies PDS as the international language for unit load pallet design. Through further growth and acceptance of PDS outside of the United States and Canada, we will have access to international markets and gain their insight on what is required to keep PDS at the forefront of global shipping needs. Unit load testing with Virginia Tech. Preliminary unit load model calculations predicting the interaction between corrugated boxes and the pallet.