A Couple Of New Examples

Sorry for the long time between posts, through the following links you will be able to access new examples for using Quick Pallet Maker. The first one explains how to add slack to boxes after calculating them and the second example explains how to export graphics files.

Standard Cases Log

We are currently working on the new version of Quick Pallet Maker that will allow the user to (among other things) keep track of the Standard Cases that are used in the calculations so the person can later see which sizes are the most practical for reordering. The example can be found through this link.

To run this example, the latest beta is required. The download links are the following for Windows and for Mac OSX.

Pasting Standard Box Data

Question: I have a list of cases that I want to add to Quick Pallet Maker but don't want to do it one-by-one. How can this be done?

Answer: Quick Pallet Maker includes an option that allows you to paste tab-delimited data from a spreadsheet or from a text document. To do so, please see the following example. The order of the columns is important:

• Box Length,
• Box Width,
• Box Height,
• Category (the type that will appear in the standard cases menu),
• Top to Bottom Compression,
• Code and
• Description.

Note that the units are also of importance: if using metric, use mm (not cm) and kg, if using Imperial units, use inches and pounds.

Basic Example For Boxes On Pallets

Through the following link you can find an example on how to load a pallet with boxes by entering their dimensions. It's a very quick example to get people started with QPM.

Istruzioni dello QPM in Italiano

Scattare qui.

Multi-Packs

In Quick Pallet Maker version 4.1 we have added the ability to pack multiple packages into a standard (or predetermined case size). This is specially useful for companies that sell small quantities of different products such as books and use off-the-shelf boxes for packing them.

We have posted an example on our web site (see link)that explains how to pick the optimal box size from a list for packing four books. Could be useful for companies like this one.

Shipping Routes

A customer recently asked us to include a feature that would make Quick Pallet Maker remember the shipping cost for a given container when moved from point A to point B. We found it interesting so we included it in Quick Pallet Maker Version 4.1 (released recently). Through the following link you can find an example on how to use this feature.

Quick Pallet Maker Movies into an iPodTM

One of the first ideas we had when we learned that the newest Apple iPod would support video playback was that it would be really interesting to work in a container loading dock and have the loading sequence for a list of containers saved as videos in your iPod. When the workers ask you where to place the pallet with the boxes that contain product X, you just look at your screen and say "after the eight big drums with liquid Z and the ten pallets with product Y". Then you would go back to your own business (listening to the music).

Or an alternate version: you are a forklift driver in a goods distributor and they tell you that you need to fill a set of containers. You tell the person operating Quick Pallet Maker (or yourself, for that matter) to save the container fill movies to your iPod. So as you drive your lift-truck, you will never forget what goes where while you listen to music at the same time (just don't keep it too loud to not hear your boss shouting over the truck noise).

Independently of what you can make of it, we have decided to add box, pallet and container fill movie export to size 320x240 videos in Quick Pallet Maker version 4.1. For an example (appropriately, in a movie) on how to do this (requires some additional processing in iTunes), please visit this link.

If you don't own Quick Pallet Maker and would like to know how the videos look like in your iPod, you can download an example here and another one here.

iTunes and iPod are Registered Trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc.

Regional Settings

Question: Every time I open Quick Pallet Maker, the standard container dimensions are increased by a factor of 100. What's wrong?

Answer: This is something people should be aware of. If the regional settings are changed in the Control Panel (Windows OS) or in the System Preferences (Mac OSX), it is very important for the decimal separator to be different from the thousands separator. For example, in the USA, the decimal separator is a point "." and the thousands separator is a comma ",". In Spain (see below), it's the other way around. Just remember to not mix them.

New Quick Pallet Maker Version

We've just posted a new Quick Pallet Maker version (4.1) for download here. The major new features (besides squashing some bugs) are:

• Multiple package types can be fit into a single box by combining the Multiple Package Input window with the box fill feature. We will follow-up with an example on how to do this in the upcoming days.


• Export to any text-file format using XSLT templates. In other words, you (or somebody in your organization that knows about the subject) creates a XSLT template that converts a QPM box, pallet, container or shipment file into another text-based format such as HTML, CSV and tab-delimited MS Excel files. Examples of these types are already included in QPM 4.1. We will also follow-up on examples for this new feature.


• Shipping cost can be assigned to a give container depending on the route. You select a container in the Standard Cases, Pallets and Containers window, click on the drawing with the right button and add or edit the container route with its shipping cost. When you use the Container Fill window and select the specific container, a menu will appear from which you can select the route and its cost.

Enjoy.

Updated Instruction Manual - Part 2

We've just posted an updated version of the Instruction Manual (that includes the new Menu commands) and it can be downloaded through the following link.

Updated Instruction Manual - Part 1

We have just uploaded the Reference Manual for all of the Quick Pallet Maker windows. It contains the details of what each window element does. To download it (PDF file), please click here.

The pages explain the windows as in the figure below.

Container Fill Help

We are updating the Quick Pallet Maker reference manual for the latest software version. In the meantime, you can download the pages that explain the elements in the different tabs of the Container Fill through the following links:

• Input Data tab
• Container tab
• Shipment tab

Please note that the free Adobe Reader is required for opening these files.

List Of Container Solutions?

Question: Is there a list of container solutions similar to the list of pallet solutions?

Answer: No. By design, Quick Pallet Maker only produces two types of container solutions: one in which the finite pallets and boxes are laid more distributed towards horizontally and another one in which the stacks are made as high as possible and placed towards the back of the container. To achieve the second type of arrangement, check the "Optimize Sections" box in the Container Fill window.

Changing Container Dimensions

Question: I don't want to use the predetermined container dimensions and introduce my own. Is this possible?

Answer: Yes, this is possible. Go to the second tab of the Standard Cases and Pallets window and double-click on any of the containers to change their properties (including their names). Clicking on a container in the list and then using "Duplicate" from the Edit menu, will create an identical container for further editing.

Adding Pads For Alternate Layers

Question: I want to add layer pads but not to all of the layers, just some of them. How do I do this?

Answer: Calculate your pallet and once you are in the Detailed Solutions window, use the Layer Editor (available through the Tools menu) to select each layer and add the pads. There's a movie that explains all of this, here (requires QuickTime).

Universal Support In Mac OSX

Question: Will Quick Pallet Maker for Mac OSX be available as a Universal application (i.e. for Intel-Macs)? When?

Answer: Yes. As soon as the people at RealSoftware (QPM is built using their tools) release the new version of their IDE that supports Universal compiles, we'll build and test a Universal Quick Pallet Maker version. In the meantime and in case you have bought a new Intel Mac, QPM should run well through Rosetta emulation.

SVG Support in QPM

Question: I have just tried the Box Export to SVG drawing. This type of drawing can be opened with Adobe Illustrator. Advanced users might add their logo to the box. When will QPM import the elaborated box to create pallet layouts with customized boxes?

Answer: We are currently working on extending the SVG export capabilities of Quick Pallet Maker to make it easier for users to customize the reports they make through XSLT templates or simply by using find-replace within a text editor. For example, the SVG pallet drawing below (Adobe Plugin and/or SVG-enabled browser required) will render the pallet in blue.

A quick find+replace changes the pallet color to red.

Hence, we will extend the functionality for the user to be able to replace each box in the pallet for a SVG design of their own. We will let people know when this is completed.

Updated Screenshots

In the following link, you can see the new movies we have added to the screenshots page.

Fitter, Happier, More Productive

Our excuses to RadioHead, but that's how you can describe the container loading fixes in Quick Pallet Maker 4.0.4. "Fitter" because we haven't made it crash in a long while, "Happier" because the results are of higher quality (including setting a weight limit to a container and finding out that the pallets or boxes that didn't fit were moved to another container) and "More Productive"... (do we really have to explain that?).

This new version is available for download here. For a list of changes, please visit this link. There's an updated list of examples (with QuickTime movies included) here.