Handling unit dimensions

The method used to calculate the dimensions of a handling unit is determined by the following factors:

  • The use of packaging items
  • If you use packaging items, the Package Type of the packaging item. A packaging item is either of type Internal or of type External.
  • The presence of child handling units for the handling unit.

Note that the calculated results are default values, you can overwrite these values.

A handling unit can have a packaging item of either type. A parent handling unit with or without a packaging item of either type can have at least one level of child handling units with packaging items of either type.

Handling unit has internal packaging item

The following list shows how the dimensions of handling units with internal packaging items are calculated for handling units in various levels of a handling unit structure.

  • Parent has internal packaging item

    If the parent has an internal packaging item, the dimensions of the parent handling unit are equal to those of the internal packaging item defined for the parent, as described in Handling unit dimensions, example A. In this example, the dimensions of the parent are equal to those of Internal packaging item of type Container. The gross weight is equal to the weight of the packaging items of the parent and the child handling units added with the aggregated weight of the items contained in the handling unit. The net weight is the weight of the items contained in the handling unit without packaging items.

  • Child handling unit or single structure handling unit has packaging item

    If a child handling unit, such as the second level child handling units in example Handling unit dimensions, example A, or a handling unit without a parent or children, has an internal packaging item, the dimensions of the handling unit are equal to those of the internal packaging item defined for the handling unit. The gross weight of the handling unit is equal to the weight of the packaging item and the items contained in the handling unit. The net weight is the weight of the items contained in the handling unit without packaging items.

  • Handling unit has more than one packaging item

    If a handling unit has more than one internal packaging item, the dimensions of the handling unit are as follows:

    • The width of the handling unit is equal to the aggregated width of the internal packaging items. This means, that the packaging items lie in a row. LN does not provide any suggestion as to stacking.
    • The gross weight is equal to the aggregated weight of the packaging items and the items contained in the handling unit, the net weight is without the weight of the packaging items.
    • The other dimensions are equal to the dimensions of an individual packaging item.
    This calculation method is also used if the handling unit is a parent without a packaging item whose children have various packaging items. In such cases, the aggregated width, the aggregated weight, and the other dimensions become the dimensions of the parent. See Handling unit dimensions, example B for an example of how the dimensions are calculated.

  • Parent has no packaging item, children have different types of internal packaging items

    If a parent handling unit has no packaging item, and the children have internal packaging items of different types, such as boxes of different sizes, for the parent, the dimensions are based on the dimensions of the packaging items of the child handling units. For information on how the dimensions are calculated, see Handling unit dimensions, example C.

Handling unit has external packaging item

For handling units with external packaging items, the dimensions of the handling unit are determined by the surface area of the external packaging item and the dimensions of the items carried by the packaging item. If the handling unit with the external packaging item is a parent, the children can have internal packaging items.

If the aggregated surface area of the items or the internal packaging items exceeds the surface area of the external packaging items, the items or internal packaging items must be stacked on the external packaging item. This impacts the height of the handling unit.

The depth and the width of the handling unit is equal to the width and the depth of the external packaging item. The height of the items or internal packaging items loaded on the external packaging item is added to the height of the external packaging item. To determine the height of the stacked items or internal packaging items on the external packaging item, LN calculates the height of the handling unit as follows:

  1. Add the aggregated volume of items or internal packaging items to the volume of the external packaging items
  2. Divide the result by the floor space of the external packaging items

For an example of how LN calculates the dimensions of handling units with external packaging items, see Handling unit dimensions, example D.

Parent has external packaging item, children have items of different heights

If the parent handling unit has an external packaging item and the children have items or internal packaging items with different heights, LN calculates the height of the handling unit as follows:

  1. Divide the aggregated floor space of the internal packaging items, no matter the type of packaging item, by the floor space of the external packaging item
  2. Multiply the result with the height of the internal packaging item with the greatest height
  3. Add the result of step 2 to the height of the external packaging item

For an example of how LN calculates the dimensions of handling units with external packaging items, see Handling unit dimensions, example E.

Note: 

The calculated heights of handling units with external packaging items are not always the real heights of the handling units, but approximated heights. After all, if the boxes are not allowed to jut out from the edge of the pallet, the size of the boxes may require you to stack them higher than the surface areas of the pallet and the boxes would indicate.

For example, if the surface area of your pallet is 1 square metre, and you have 10 boxes of 0.4 m * 0.25 m, only eight boxes would fit on the pallet without jutting out from the edge of the pallet. Because the space left on the pallet is insufficient, you must stack the remaining two boxes on top of the first layer of boxes.

In particular, if you put boxes or items of different sizes on the pallet, LN only gives approximated heights, because LN uses the height of the boxes with the greatest height to calculate the height of the handling unit.

Handling units without packaging items

For handling units without packaging items, the dimensions are determined as follows:

  • Width

    The aggregated width of the items included in the handling unit. Note that for parent handling units whose child handling units have different width values, the width of the child handling unit with the greatest width value is defaulted in this field.

  • Length

    The depth of the item included in the handling unit. This value is the default value taken from the Item - Warehousing (whwmd4600m000) session. Note that for parent handling units whose child handling units have items with different depths, the default value in this field is the added depth value of one item of each of the child handling units.

  • Height

    The height of the item included in the handling unit. This value is the default value taken from the Item - Warehousing (whwmd4600m000) session. Note that for parent handling units whose child handling units have different heights, the height of the child handling unit with the greatest height value is defaulted in this field.

  • Floor Space

    The value of the Length field multiplied by the value of the Width field. For parent handling units whose child handling units contain different items, the default value in this field is the aggregated floor space of each of the child handling units.

  • Volume

    The value of the Floor Space field multiplied by the value of the Height field. For parent handling units whose child handling units contain different items, the default value in this field is the aggregated volume of each of the child handling units.