Use case · Palletising
The number of cartons on a pallet is cartons per layer × number of layers, capped by the permitted total height and weight. The layer count is quick to work out; the layer pattern is what really decides it. For a 350 × 250 mm carton on a Euro pallet, the pattern is the difference between 9 and 10 cartons per layer. JetPallet searches for that pattern automatically and updates the result as you type.
Several pattern families, checked independently
Workflow
Enter length, width, height and weight of the filled carton and pick the load carrier – a Euro pallet, a 1,200 × 1,000 mm industrial pallet, a half pallet, a 48 × 40 in pallet or a custom size. You can enter millimetres, inches and feet as well as kilograms and pounds, including fractions such as 12 3/8 in.
Set the maximum total height and payload and, if needed, overhang or underhang for each side of the pallet. Each field is checked as you type.
JetPallet works through several pattern families live and shows cartons per layer, layers, total cartons, height, gross weight and area used. The variant comparison puts the patterns it found side by side.
Decide whether every layer is identical, rotated by 180° or mirrored. JetPallet checks how much of each layer is geometrically supported by the layer beneath.
Export a packing report or packing instructions as PDF, carton positions as CSV or JSON, or carry straight on to planning the truck.
The obvious approach divides pallet length by carton length and pallet width by carton width. That gives a grid, with every carton facing the same way. It often leaves a strip empty that rotated cartons would fill.
Example: a 350 × 250 × 200 mm carton on a 1,200 × 800 mm Euro pallet, a maximum total height of 1,800 mm (an assumption) and a pallet height of 144 mm.
For 1,000 cartons that means 13 pallets instead of 14. Then come the constraints a spreadsheet rarely captures: weight, overhang, alternating layers and whether each layer still rests fully on the one below.
What you end up with
In detail
01
The inspector shows cartons per layer, number of layers, any part layer on top, load height, gross weight including the pallet, area used, use of the available load volume and the centre of the carton midpoints (load centre).
02
Alternating layers (180°, mirrored) are calculated with a support check; the minimum support can be set anywhere from 0.1 to 100%. Overhang and underhang are entered per side, up to ±500 mm. Optionally, JetPallet checks how many carton labels face outwards.
03
To reproduce an arrangement from the shop floor, place the cartons yourself in the layer editor: move, rotate, snap into place. Your layer goes through the same check as the automatic patterns.
04
For awkward dimensions there is an intensive search that you start explicitly. For small layers, JetPallet can prove that no layer with more cartons exists; where the search was limited, the result says so.
Questions
Multiply cartons per layer by the number of layers. The layers are (maximum total height minus pallet height) divided by the carton height, rounded down. Then check that the weight stays within the permitted payload and reduce the count if it does not.
Because the pattern matters. A grid turns every carton the same way and often leaves a strip empty. A two-block or pinwheel pattern rotates some of the cartons and uses that strip. For 350 × 250 mm on 1,200 × 800 mm that is 10 cartons per layer instead of 9.
Yes. The web calculator on this site works out grid and two-block patterns for one carton and one pallet. The Mac app adds further pattern families, layer sequences, overhang and underhang, and reports.
Read on
Try simple patterns in the web calculator, or test JetPallet free for 14 days with every feature, then USD 99 a year. For macOS 15 or later.
Free for 14 days · then USD 99/year
