The packaging size for exported products needs to consider the ease of transport, especially for commodity loading and unloading processes during distribution using pallets and forklifts (Anonymous 2008). The palette is a medium for moving large quantities of goods in one unit from one location to another efficiently. Developed countries have used pallets to support efficient product distribution by loading and unloading systems in one unit.
Pallets have an important role in the distribution because it facilitates the process of moving goods to trucks or containers, both with human power and with forklifts . The ISO standard recognizes six pallet sizes as the standard size in the world, namely:
- · 1,067 mm x 1,067 mm,
- · 1,100 mm x 1,100 mm,
- · 1,140 mm x 1,140 mm,
- · 1,200 mm x 800 mm,
- · 1,200 mm x 1,000 mm, and
- · 48 “x 40” (1,219 mm x 1,016 mm) (Anonymous 2008b).
Each Country selects a standard pallet size for different reasons. The standard pallet sizes used in some countries are presented in Table 7.
Table 4. Several Palette Sizes according to ISO for Loading and Unloading System of Goods and Country Users
| Palette Size (mm) | User Country |
| 1200 x 800 | Europe, Singapore and China |
| 1140 x 1140 | Some European countries, China |
| 1200 x 1000 | Germany, Netherlands.Taiwan, Singapore, |
| Thailand, China, Indonesia | |
| 1219 x 1016 | America, China |
| 1067 x 1067 | America, Canada |
| 1100 x 1100 | Japan, Taiwan. Korea, Singapore, |
| Thailand | |
| Source: Lee (2005b) |
In Asian countries, the pallet size used varies considerably, although some of them have used the ISO standard. The recommended palette standard for grocery and fast moving consumer goods industry in Asia is 1,200 mm x 1,000 mm, however The size is not widely used. With different cardboard packaging sizes, the efficiency of pallet usage will also vary. Efficient use of the ideal pallet area is 100%.
According to Lee (2005a), the efficiency of 90% or more pallet loading is called good fit, 80% efficiency including average fit, and load efficiency of 70% Classified as poor fit. Figure 3 provides an illustration of the packaging arrangement in the palette to obtain maximum efficiency.
Packaging materials commonly used in the fishing industry of fresh fish and frozen fish products exported include: cold-resistant plastic, wax-coated cartons and styrofoam. To know more about the type of materials commonly used by the fresh fish processing industry and frozen fish, let us do the observation of the packaging materials used by the fish processing industry around your area.