General Manager Perry Sommer (right) and Thomas Riess (Baumer hhs regional sales manager for Bavaria and Austria) with a CONE PAL ant pallet made of corrugated cardboard. With its solutions, the Nürnberg-based company CONE PAL is poised to revolutionise the load carrier market.

How equipment from Baumer hhs supports production of pallets made of corrugated cardboard

Krefeld – CONE PAL has started a revolution on the load carrier market with pallets made of corrugated cardboard. The success of the products is reflected in continuous growth of the company, based in Nürnberg, Germany. “As many as 15 years ago, my father recognised the potential advantages of pallets made of corrugated cardboard”, explains Perry Sommer, Managing Partner of CONE PAL Vertriebsgesellschaft GmbH. “They are durable, 100% recyclable, nestable and reusable. What is more, they significantly cut costs along the supply chain for many applications”.

A breakthrough finally came when Mr. Sommer received an opportunity to work with a major company in the food industry and develop his father’s idea into a solution suitable even for the most demanding logistics applications. This collaboration resulted in establishment of the CONE PAL GmbH & Co. KG company in 2020.

Just one year later, the company installed its first machine for automated production of the innovative pallets. This soon was operating at capacity, prompting CONE PAL to start up a second machine in late summer 2022—a special system, developed largely in-house, that is the only one of its kind in the world. The adhesive application equipment from Baumer hhs integrated in the machine plays a critical role.

Two-shot gluing process
“We need practical equipment that functions reliably”, says Benjamin Sommer, Perry’s brother and General Manager of CONE PAL GmbH & Co. KG, defining what the company expects of suppliers. “That applies in particular to the adhesive application units in the leg erector, a component we also designed in-house. We had to resolve the issue of how to manufacture three legs of different sizes for the pallets in a fully automated process”, Benjamin Sommer recalls. The legs are made from intelligently designed, die-cut, corrugated blanks that go through a special folding and gluing step performed by the automated leg erector.

The legs are mounted in the top deck by means of a novel method that CONE PAL has patented. The ingenious design, the material and the gluing method together guarantee the tremendous stability and durability of both the legs and the entire pallet. The pallets can carry even heavy goods, such as beverages, for logistics applications.

After talks with several gluing system suppliers, CONE PAL decided in spring 2022 to collaborate with Baumer hhs. “The reliability of Baumer hhs’s equipment, its uncomplicated service and professional technical support are what swayed us”, says Perry Sommer. It soon became evident in discussions with Baumer hhs that a two-shot gluing process—a combination of hot melt and cold glue application—would best meet CONE PAL’S requirements for erecting the legs.

Depending on their size, the pallets have either six or nine legs. The three leg sizes are necessary because different industries have different requirements for their pallet handling equipment. In terms of load-bearing capacity, there is virtually no difference between the large and small legs. Baumer hhs’s gluing equipment gives CONE PAL a great deal of flexibility in manufacturing the different leg sizes.

Its price/performance ratio is also ideal for this price-sensitive application. CONE PAL selected the HM-500 and DLK go as reliable and low-cost hot melt and cold glue application heads. The Xmelt melter and the dependable cold glue delivery unit are likewise standard products, which are in operation in countless systems for Baumer hhs customers worldwide. With this equipment, CONE PAL can accurately apply the precise amount of glue required. This minimises glue consumption, further enhancing the sustainability of the already very eco-friendly pallets. “The combination of hot melt and cold glue was customised to meet our specific needs, meaning it’s a perfect solution for us that promotes the cost-efficiency and sustainability of our products”, concludes Benjamin Sommer.

Virtually endless options for customisation
CONE PAL can flexibly adapt pallet designs to suit customer needs. For example, the pallets can be printed or provided with a non-slip or additional water-resistant coating. Pallets can be produced in variable sizes and shapes, allowing customers to minimise transport and administrative costs.

Currently, the CONE PAL product range encompasses seven standard sizes, which meet a wide range of requirements imposed by the company’s over 500 customers. An adhesive application system from Baumer hhs is also in operation at CONE PAL’s second production site in Kevelaer, Germany. “We can basically manufacture pallets worldwide, just-in-time, and locally for customers”, says Perry Sommer, outlining the market potential. “That’s why the scalability of Baumer hhs’s equipment is also so important to us”.

The majority of CONE PAL’s products are shipped within Europe, but some also go customers overseas, for example in Argentina and New Zealand. “Our pallets can be stacked 40 high. They are also 3.5 cm lower and much lighter than conventional pallets made of wood or plastic. In other words, our customers save a lot of money on transport and reduce their environmental footprint. Fully loaded trucks carrying our pallets instead of wooden ones travel with 700 kg less weight for this reason alone”, says Perry Sommer as an example. This explains why the product is named the CONE PAL “ant”: Just like the tiny insects, these pallets may be lightweight, but they can carry very heavy loads.

CONE PAL
CONE PAL GmbH & Co. KG, founded in 2020, and Dietmar Sommer Verpackungen GmbH are separate business entities. The two companies, based in Nürnberg, Germany, supply customers with packaging articles, product displays and gift boxes as well as products in segments such as transport packaging, custom protective packaging and load carriers. Services range from design and planning to development and logistics. CONE PAL currently has 30 employees and specialises in the production of innovative pallets made of corrugated cardboard. The family-owned business is managed by brothers Benjamin and Perry Sommer.