As mounting costs and labor shortages continue to put the squeeze on manufacturing and distribution operations, every piece of equipment has a part to play in getting product out the door quickly and efficiently. Your stretch wrapper is no exception.
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Pick the right equipment supplier, and you gain a valuable partner in optimizing your workflow. Make the wrong choice, and you face headaches like mounting inefficiency, increased safety risks, and unpredictable repair and maintenance costs.
In this article, we identify common mistakes to avoid when choosing a stretch wrapper manufacturer and offer some valuable tips and resources to help you make a decision that works for your staff, your customers, and your bottom line.
It’s easy to underestimate the role a stretch wrapper plays in any manufacturing or warehousing operation. But in fact, it’s a critical part of your commitment to handling safety and efficiency.
Whether you’re installing your first wrapper or replacing an existing unit, there’s a lot to think about. Here are eight common mistakes end users make when selecting a wrapping machine supplier to provide their equipment.
Expecting your staff to move, pivot, and manually wrap pallets is not just a drain on efficiency in any at-scale handling operation—it’s a safety risk.
While investing in an automated or semi-automated pallet wrapper may seem like a major expense, it doesn’t compare to the human cost of any injury or all the potential costs of a lost-time incident.
Choose a manufacturer with the professional, rated equipment your employees need to do their jobs quickly and safely.
Choosing a machine with insufficient load/throughput capacity can bottleneck your operation and increase safety risks. Skimping on equipment that meets your average rather than maximum pallet size and weight, or failing to plan for future capacity increases, will only cost you in the long run.
Talk to your equipment supplier about industrial-grade equipment built for both your current and future needs.
Film is a significant expenditure, especially at the scale you’re dealing with. Work with a supplier who understands your packaging challenges and has film pre-stretch equipment to help get more out of the film you use for your wrapping application.
The right wrapper machine will help your film—and your consumables budget—stretch further. In fact, Handle It estimates that stretch equipment lowers film consumption by up to 50%.
Warehouse space is valuable. While a wrapper might help improve throughput, it could also end up costing you if it takes up valuable floor space or disrupts your workflow. Choose an experienced manufacturer who will help you right-size a wrapping solution for your space.
Many stretch wrapper manufacturers include very expensive and complex proprietary parts on their equipment that can be difficult to replace if they’re no longer supported. If you’re buying cut-price or used machinery, be sure that components can be sourced from the manufacturer or replaced with off-the-shelf parts.
Better still, invest in quality equipment from a reliable, established manufacturer like Handle It. We believe in affordable yet robust components in our machinery.
While it’s wise to plan for the future, it’s easy to get talked into buying advanced features or automations that you will never need for your pallet wrapping application.
It’s best to build a partnership with a reputable manufacturer who will help you match your needs and budget today while being available to help you expand or upgrade in the future as needed. Many low-cost suppliers seek only to upsell you in order to maximize their initial profits.
It can be tempting to try to save money by buying cut-price or used pallet-wrapping equipment, especially if you consider this to be ‘non-specialized” equipment.
While you may book some big savings initially, you might be surprised by the time and money required to support your equipment in the absence of a solid warranty, reputable after-sale support network, or readily available parts.
In today’s just-in-time delivery environment, failing to check when your equipment will actually arrive can cost you dearly in terms of missed deadlines, unexpected bottlenecks, or idle production lines.
Smaller suppliers and unaffiliated dealers will often overestimate their ability to deliver, especially if they are sourcing from foreign-based manufacturers. Choose a manufacturer with the ability to deliver on their promises.
It can be tempting to choose cheaper equipment for an “end-of-line” solution like a stretch wrapper, but choosing the cheapest machine on the market can be costly over time.
It’s important to consider the fair market value of the equipment you are investing in. While it’s possible to overpay for features or capacity you simply don’t need, failing to invest in quality equipment that matches your current and future needs can cost you more down the line.
Here’s what to look for in a stretch wrapper manufacturer who will deliver long-term value and measurable return on investment.
Reputable stretch wrapper manufacturers like Handle It provide durable equipment designed to withstand the rigors of the toughest shop floors year after year. Our wrapper machines are designed and engineered in Europe and assembled in the U.S. from high-quality components.
Handle It’s ISO 9000-certified wrapping machinery is trusted by manufacturers and distributors across the U.S. to wrap and secure even the heaviest and most challenging pallet loads.
Stretch wrapper capacity is not just about weight. While you need equipment that can handle your heaviest loads, you also need workflow integration capable of wrapping and moving pallets faster and with fewer hands.
Handle It offers wrappers with the ability to handle pallet loads of 4,400lb or more and fully integrated solutions able to process up to 100 units per hour. We have the right turntable, rotary arm, and conveyor solutions you need to ensure your pallet wrapping process never holds you back.
You might be surprised how much efficiency the right stretch wrapping solution adds to your process, reducing individual handling time by at least 50% compared to manual wrapping.
Handle It can help you identify a machine that:
Leading suppliers like Handle It are also capable of delivering customized solutions that unlock even more value from your process. These include (on selected models):
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For the most advanced warehouses, we also offer our 3000 Series Mobile Robotic Stretch Wrap Machine for fully automated wrapping anywhere in your facility.
Handle It also supplies a wide range of accessories including ramps, pallet jacks, and extended frames to assist with moving pallets onto and off wrapping turntables, as well as guard railings and racks to protect your warehouse infrastructure.
The true benefit of working with a full-service stretch wrapper manufacturer like Handle It lies in the long-term value of the partnership. While our machines are designed to deliver years of trouble-free operation with minimal maintenance, we also offer:
Still unsure if Handle It is the right stretch wrapper manufacturer for you? The following resources may help:
The right stretch wrapping solution can unplug warehouse bottlenecks and release hidden efficiencies and value in your workflow.
At Handle It, we have the high-quality, robust equipment you need as well as the parts, knowledge, and experience to support you for the long term.
By choosing Handle It as your partner for stretch wrapping solutions, you’ll gain:
Contact us today to find out how Handle It can help you unlock the value and efficiency of stretch wrap automation.
Contact a Stretch Wrapper Expert
BACKAre you thinking about making the switch from hand wrapping to machine wrapping your loads? That’s a choice you won’t ever regret—machine wrapping has countless benefits over hand wrapping. It lowers labor, material, operating, and maintenance costs, reduces workplace injuries, and decreases product damage.
Fortunately, the process of purchasing, setting up, using, and maintaining stretch wrapping machines isn’t as complicated as it might seem. This five-step guide to buying a semi-auto stretch wrapper is here to help you conquer the first step in automating the stretch wrapping process—picking out the best machines.
The first step in choosing the right stretch wrapping technology is to determine your warehouse’s needs. Machines are smart, but there are some things they’re just not able to do. They’re built one way, and they do things that way. If they aren’t compatible with your favorite kind of stretch wrap, for example, you’re out of luck—they can’t magically reprogram themselves to work with it.
You want to choose a machine that’s compatible with your preferred kind of stretch wrap and applies the right amount of containment force. Knowing what kind of products you wrap and what it takes to protect them against damage will help you choose the right kind of machine for your warehouse.
Need help identifying your warehouse’s needs in terms of stretch wrapping? Here are some questions you should ask before beginning your search for the ideal machine:
You’re probably not an expert when it comes to stretch wrappers, and that’s fine. Even if you are a fount of knowledge when it comes to stretch wrapping technology, you’re unlikely to know the ins and outs of particular machines as well as the manufacturer or supplier does. That’s also fine. As long as you purchase from the right manufacturer or supplier, you’ll have all the resources you need at your fingertips.
But how do you go about choosing the right manufacturer or supplier? Here are some tips for finding credible companies to purchase from.
You might not get the chance to examine and test the machines before you purchase them, but there are many other ways to gauge the safety and efficiency of a manufacturer or supplier’s machines.
Does the company have an incredible reputation or a terrible one? You can gauge how customers feel about them by skimming through customer reviews. If customers are consistently raving about the quality of their machines, that’s a good sign. If customers talk nonstop about downtime, damage, and general inefficiency, steer clear.
You can also get a good idea about the quality of the machines by skimming through their user manuals. These are usually available online or upon request. The manual contains a trove of valuable information, including information pertaining to important features, such as safety measures that the machine employs.
Your new stretch wrapper should be simple to install and operate. For best results, contact your dealer or manufacturer to schedule your installation with a certified technician. This ensures that you machine is operating properly for best performance. Your semi-automatic stretch wrapper will come with detailed instructions on how to operate.
Let’s say you purchase a brand-new machine, and a couple of weeks in, you encounter a problem. This hiccup isn’t necessarily a sign that the manufacturer or supplier is bad. Sometimes, even the most advanced technology can fail abruptly.
However, what is a sign of the company’s competency is how they respond to problems of this sort. Do they provide extended warranties on their machines? Can they ship out replacement parts in a timely manner? Do they provide live tech service? If a company doesn’t seem like it will provide you with the support you need when things go awry, it’s in your best interest to purchase your machines from someone else.
You know that you want semi-automatic stretch wrappers—otherwise, you wouldn’t be reading the guide to buying a semi-auto stretch wrapper. But did you know that there’s more than one type of semi-auto stretch wrapper? Here are some of the most common and popular types of semi-automatic stretch wrappers and the applications they work best for.
Do you wish that your stretch wrapper would come to your loads instead of having to haul load after load across the warehouse? Portable stretch wrappers make that possible and open up valuable floor space. These wrappers are easy to move around and can handle loads of almost any width, length, and weight.
As the name suggests, turntable stretch wrappers feature a table that rotates as a film delivery system dispenses and wraps the film around the load. These wrappers are the most popular type of semi-auto stretch wrappers—and for a good reason. They’re extremely versatile and easy to configure to suit a wide range of applications. You can quickly determine the turntable stretch wrapper you need based on weight, height, and other key factors of your pallet loads.
Do you have loads that are extremely lightweight or extremely heavy? A rotary arm stretch wrapper can handle the loads that other kinds of wrappers can’t.
Horizontal stretch wrappers are ideal for wrapping products that are too tall or wide for other wrappers, such as lumber, doors, windows, carpets, textiles, and piping.
It’s important to choose a stretch wrapping machine that works for you and your business. But many businesses need to consider budget alongside quality. Some kinds of stretch wrappers are more expensive than others. As one of the most common and popular types, turntable stretch wrappers tend to be on the more cost-effective side. More specialized kinds of wrappers, such as rotary arm or portable wrappers, can be double or triple the price of more common types.
But don’t let money influence your decision too much. These machines are one part of your warehouse that you should definitely splurge on. If you purchase a run-down and less-efficient machine just to save money, you’ll have to deal with slow, inaccurate wrapping and more frequent downtime. A new and highly efficient machine will cost you more upfront, but due to the increased productivity, accuracy, and safety it provides, you’ll make back the money you spent in no time flat.
Whether you need stretch wrapping machines, packers, palletizers, or laser-guided vehicles for your warehouse, Robopac USA has it all. Our high-tech machines come with innovative R-Connect and CUBE Technology and are designed to be durable and productive. Shop our full line of semi-automatic stretch wrappers and other secondary packaging equipment today!
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