Logistics & intralogistics

In an automated high-bay warehouse with stacker cranes, AutoStore grids or AGV fleets, pallets are not driven but positioned to the centimetre. Sensors check entry profiles, edge radii and overhangs. Even 2 mm of dimensional deviation or one loose board can bring things to a halt — with consequential costs in the five-digit range per hour.

Wooden pallets deform under load, absorb moisture, splinter at the corners and are not process-capable for fully automated environments. Standard injection-moulded plastic pallets suffer from other issues: weld seams, thin wall sections at highly stressed points and a tendency to crack under impact loads.

Rotogal pallets are rotationally moulded — a process that produces low-stress, seam-free, one-piece parts with uniform wall thickness. Geometry is defined to the millimetre, the profile stable over the entire service life. For automated systems that means process reliability — and for the operator: fewer downtime tickets, fewer rejected pallets, less supply-chain stress.

ISO 18613 defines requirements for repair, quality inspection and traceability of plastic pallets in pool operation. For operators with exchange systems (food retail, automotive, parcel services) this is the basis for predictable stocks, loss rates and circular-economy balances.

Rotogal supports pool operators with serialised pallets (in-mould RFID or embedded barcode), repairability (damaged individual elements can be refurbished by welding or hot-air processes) and documented batch traceability. For high-cycle-count projects we integrate your pool numbering directly into the tool geometry — eliminating separate labelling.

At end of life the pallet is fully recyclable by polymer type. We take Rotogal pallets back within our return system and feed the material back into new production — demonstrably a lower overall CO₂ balance than wooden pallets, even accounting for their recycling share.

In cold storage at −25 °C to −30 °C, pallets become problem parts: wood splinters under impact, tubular steel conducts heat into the goods (energy losses in the four- to five-digit annual range), painted surfaces crack off. Standard PP injection-moulded plastics become brittle below −15 °C and lose impact toughness to the point of complete failure.

Rotogal pallets of LMDPE stay dimensionally stable and impact-tough at −30 °C. The material's low melt index and controlled crystalline structure guarantee consistent mechanical behaviour across the full operating temperature range. Repeated temperature cycles between cold store and room climate do no structural damage either — no water ingress, no internal ice formation, no cracking.

For wet zones (wash, cleaning and disinfection lines) the same applies: no water absorption, no swelling, no deposits at seam lines. The pallet goes through cleaning cycles as easily as the container it carries — a key building block in closed hygiene loops.