TI-HI Calculator

Define TI and HI before entering a limit

TI is the number of cases in one complete layer. HI is the number of complete layers in the pallet load. Their product is the number of cases on a complete pallet. Those definitions sound simple, but the result depends on what a height or weight limit includes. A total loaded-height limit includes the pallet base. A gross-weight limit includes the pallet tare. A cargo payload constraint has a different meaning. Keep the field meanings in the input record rather than treating every limit as a generic capacity number.

Measure the actual packed case and specify whether horizontal rotation is permitted. This tool starts with a mixed 0°/90° layer search and also offers a uniform-layout comparison. The uniform result uses whole rows and columns in one orientation. The mixed search can combine orientations, but a best-found status does not prove that every possible pattern has been searched. Select the displayed layout before interpreting its TI and resulting HI. Open the configuration tool to inspect individual placement coordinates using the same dimensions, gaps and edge clearance. A larger TI can change which stack constraint becomes limiting, so retain the selected mode with the input record.

Example: which constraint limits the stack?

Suppose a validated layer has five cases, each 300 mm high and 18 kg. The pallet base is 162 mm high and, for this hypothetical example, its tare is 30 kg. Total loaded height is limited to 1400 mm. Available height above the pallet is 1238 mm, so the height-limited number of complete layers is floor(1238 / 300) = 4. That makes twenty cases. Loaded height is 162 + 4 × 300 = 1362 mm, and gross weight is 30 + 20 × 18 = 390 kg.

Now add a gross-weight limit of 350 kg. One complete layer adds 5 × 18 = 90 kg. After allowing the 30 kg pallet tare, the number of weight-permitted layers is floor((350 − 30) / 90) = 3. Three layers contain fifteen cases, stand 1062 mm high and weigh 300 kg gross. Four layers meet the height limit but exceed the entered gross limit by 40 kg. The allowable whole-layer plan therefore uses the more restrictive known limit.

The 350 kg gross limit and 30 kg tare are example inputs, not universal recommendations or a pallet manufacturer's rating. Replace them with values appropriate to the actual equipment. Carton compression, temperature, humidity, pallet condition and securement are outside this arithmetic. If a supplier permits only two layers, that operational limit overrides a geometric calculation that finds three or four possible layers.

Maximum-layer and validation modes answer different questions

A maximum-layer calculation asks how many whole layers satisfy the entered numeric constraints. A validation calculation asks whether a specific proposed layer count satisfies those same constraints. If you want three layers for order handling, entering three in validation mode lets you compare its actual height and weight with the limits. It does not require the operation to use every available millimetre or kilogram. A smaller selected stack can be appropriate for reasons the tool does not model.

When no applicable constraint is supplied, HI cannot be established from case footprint alone. A pallet does not acquire an unlimited stack height just because a field is empty. Record whether a limit is unknown, unused for the comparison, or confirmed by a supplier. The distinction helps a second planner understand what the displayed result does and does not establish.

Check exact boundaries and extra materials

Height fit is discontinuous because layers are whole numbers. With a 162 mm base and 300 mm cases, four layers need exactly 1362 mm. A limit of 1361 mm permits only three complete layers. Increasing the limit by one millimetre crosses a layer boundary; it is not a gradual fractional change. The same principle applies to the gross weight needed for one more full layer.

Interlayer sheets, pads and top caps can change loaded height. Extra wrap and securing materials can change weight. The arithmetic does not infer these components. If their effect matters, incorporate them into the physical input model or assess them separately and state the adjustment. Do not add a universal percentage to every example or assert that an arbitrary margin makes a load safe. A consistent record of actual components is more useful.

Orders that are not a whole number of pallets

At fifteen cases on a complete pallet, an order of 38 cases requires ceil(38 / 15) = 3 pallets. Two pallets carry fifteen cases each and the last carries eight. The final pallet is not automatically the same height or weight as a complete pallet. Eight 18 kg cases plus the example 30 kg tare weigh 174 kg before other materials. How those eight cases are arranged across one or two partial layers needs its own handling and stability decision.

For planning, distinguish the complete-pallet TI-HI specification from the actual case quantity on the final pallet. Shipping records should use the measured or confirmed final load. Rounding the number of pallets down would leave eight cases unplanned; copying full-pallet weight to every pallet would overstate this particular example's shipment weight.

Carry the loaded envelope into the next calculation

The next floor-plan step uses the completed load footprint, not its carton TI alone. A forty-case stack and a fifteen-case stack can occupy the same pallet floor area but have different heights and weights. Check the equipment's door opening in addition to internal height. Do not assume that two pallets may be stacked simply because twice their height fits inside a container; stacking needs its own approved physical support and restraint conditions.

The configuration calculator, weight calculator and methodology make these model boundaries visible. Reference pallet dimensions are available from EPAL's specification, but a footprint standard is not a rating for every complete load. Retain the unit, all numeric inputs, selected mode and limiting constraint with the result, and keep confidential customer or order identifiers out of shared calculation URLs.

Use shipment pallet quantity in the transport step

TI-HI counts cases and whole layers on one pallet. It does not count vehicle positions. Take the order's full and partial pallet quantities to the 40ft container worked layout or the 53-foot trailer worked grid. Measure the actual finished footprints and heights; a partly filled pallet still takes its own floor position. Check component masses and tare separately.