Corrugated polypropylene sheet comes with a smooth face or a textured, embossed one. The difference is friction, and the decision is about whether your load needs it – which depends less on the sheet than on how you stabilise pallets.
Why smooth sheet is the default
It is the standard product, it is cheaper, and it is fine for a lot of applications. Layer pads under boxed product on a wrapped pallet do not need extra friction, because the wrap is providing the stability and the boxes are not going anywhere.
If that describes you, buy smooth. Embossing is a cost with no benefit.
When the load slides
Bags, smooth-bottomed cartons, anything with a slick underside. On a smooth sheet these shift, and they shift more as the pallet is braked, cornered and stacked. The result is a pallet that arrives leaning, or a load that has walked partly off the pallet.
An anti-slip embossed face is the cheapest fix available and it is dramatically more effective than adding wrap. For bagged product it is close to essential.
The interaction with wrap
Wrap and embossing do different jobs. Wrap holds the load together; friction stops it sliding on the pallet or between layers. Wrap is poor at the second, which is why heavily wrapped pallets still slide.
So the useful configuration is often less wrap plus embossed layer sheets – cheaper, faster to build, and more stable. Worth trying before buying more wrap.
Two things embossing does that matter less
It hides scuffs, which matters if the sheet is visible. And it is slightly harder to clean – a textured surface holds dust more than a smooth one. In a clean environment that is a small disadvantage; in a packing shed it is irrelevant.
It is also marginally less stiff at the same thickness, because the texture is formed into the face. Not enough to matter for a layer pad.
Where to use it and where not to
Use embossed on the layer sheets that separate sliding product, and on the top sheet if anything rests on it. Use smooth for floor protection where people walk – texture collects dirt – and for anything that is printed on.
Mixed specification on one order is normal and usually saves money. Most operations need embossed on one or two of their sheet applications and not the rest.
How to tell whether you need it
Build one pallet on smooth sheet and one on embossed, with the same load, and brake a trolley hard with each. The difference is usually visible immediately – the smooth one has moved and the embossed one has not.
That is a ten-minute test and it is worth doing before specifying, because the answer is not obvious from the product. Some loads that look risky do not move at all, and some that look safe slide immediately.
If you are already wrapping heavily, try the embossed sheet with less wrap. Most operations find they can reduce wrap substantially, and the combined cost is lower than what they were doing before.
What we can do
We supply PP corrugated sheet in both finishes and will ask what is going on the pallet before quoting. Tell us the product and how you stabilise, and we will tell you where you need embossed and where you are wasting money on it.