A shrink wrapping machine provides a fast and effective solution for securing pallets and protecting inventory. With an outer layer of plastic, you hold the load together and prevent damage to the items inside.
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If you are moving a lot of inventory through a warehouse, then a shrink wrapping machine can be an excellent investment. This equipment is efficient and cost-effective, helping to optimize the productivity of your team, save costs on material waste, and ensure a safe and secure load.
Shrink wrap, sometimes known as shrink film, is a thin, often-transparent polymer material. Individual items can be shrink-wrapped to hold objects in place and ensure they're ready for shipment or movement within a warehouse. More commonly, however, companies use large shrink wrapping machines to secure a number of individual items to a pallet.
The plastic film is placed in the desired location on the product. Then, the shrink wrapper applies heat, causing the film to shrink tightly around the item inside. The heat causes a change in the molecules of the shrink film sheet. When it cools, these molecular characteristics are set, so the plastic stays in this stretched state.
The final result: a durable, clear layer of plastic protection around a single or set of stacked items.
Various machinery has been developed to make it easier for users to apply shrink wrap. Since there isn't a one-size-fits-all solution, it's essential to learn about your options before investing in a shrink wrapping machine. In a warehouse setting, large machines offer automatic, semi-automatic, and rotary arm features:
The benefit of an automatic machine is that the shrink wrapper can run independently, without an operator intervening with each cycle. The most advanced and innovative of these these automatic machines include conveyor belts that move the pallet into position, and then the shrink wrapper begins wrapping automatically.
Many automatic wrappers have the ability to customize each wrap using sensors to determine the height and weight of each load. After the film is cut and sealed, conveyorized wrappers will move the pallet so other loads can enter the wrapping cycle; non-conveyorized automatic wrappers require an operator using a forklift to move the load and place a new one. Businesses that move high volumes of pallets each hour benefit most from these automated features.
The WCA-Twin is an example of a conveyorized automatic shrink wrapper, offering up to 100 loads per hour.
Semi-automatic functions require an operator to run the machine and are an excellent solution for medium to low-volume applications. The operator places a pallet load on the shrink wrapper and positions the shrink wrap film tail for the process to initiate.
Then, the machine's automated features take over to wrap the plastic film on the pallet load. The operator must remove the pallet to make space for the next load.
A rotary arm machine is a type of automatic shrink wrapper. Since the arm moves around the pallet, it eliminates the need to rotate the pallet during wrapping. In addition, because the load itself sits on the floor and not on top of a turntable, there is virtually no limit to the weight of the load that can be wrapped by a rotary arm shrink wrapper. Rotary arm machines are preferred for unstable or heavy loads and are commonly used on packing lines.
Rotary arm shrink wrappers, like the WRTA-150 pictured here, have no weight limits as the load sits on the ground while the arm travels around the item or pallet.
Learning about the functions and features of shrink wrap machinery is an essential step before you purchase equipment for your warehouse. As you compare these specifications, you can find the optimal systems to accommodate your standard workflow.
How many loads are you moving through the line each hour? Your production rate is a good indicator to help you determine the type of stretch wrapper you need. Keep in mind that fully automated machines tend to be more expensive compared to semi-automated stretch wrappers. These automated features require more moving parts and equipment to achieve maximum efficiency.
But the investment in an automated shrink wrapping machine is worth the cost when you are moving a lot of product. Small- to mid-production might be better suited with a cheaper, semi-automatic shrink wrapping system. Investing in a semi-automatic shrink wrapper is recommended if you expect to wrap 10 to 20 loads per hour on a single machine.
Consider the weight of your load to ensure the conveyor belt and/or turntable can handle each pallet. Both automated and semi-automated equipment can handle heavy loads, but you'll need to check the machine specifications to ensure the shrink wrapper can meet the daily demands. If the product(s) you're wrapping are very heavy, then consider a rotary-arm shrink wrapping machine as these do not have weight limits.
Automated features are ideal for companies with limited products and large runs of these goods. When there is consistency and repeatability in the load size, then your organization can really capitalize on the speed and efficiency of an automated shrink wrapper.
On the other hand, varying runs and different configurations makes it more expensive to automate the system. Some automated machines require downtime and operator involvement for changeovers when load sizes vary drastically. So, semi-automatic might be a better solution for those with small runs and/or varying pallets sizes.
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Finally, you will need to make sure your warehouse is equipped with sufficient electrical connections and air compressors to run the machinery. Electric stretch wrappers tend to be a bit cheaper compared to wrappers with pneumatic features. Since the machine runs on electricity alone, you don't need an air compressor to run the equipment.
Pneumatic stretch wrappers must have industrial-level air compressors to run. This compressed air powers the clamps that power different parts of the machine, such as the top platens (for load stabilization) and power clamps for grabbing the film. While these machines are often more expensive, they also offer greater strength and capacity for heavy or oversized loads.
Regardless of your needs, be sure to check the electrical and pneumatic requirements before making a purchasing decision.
When you are ready to optimize productivity and improve your warehouse systems, then a shrink wrapping machine can be a great investment. This durable equipment can last for years, giving you a long-lasting solution for securing pallets and protecting inventory, which will result in a high ROI as time goes on.
Our team at Gertex Solutions provides the hands-on support you need when designing the optimal fulfillment strategies for your business. Not only do we offer a variety of shrink wrappers, but we also have all the shipping materials you require to run said machines.
We specialize in packaging automation to help your shipping management. If you'd like to learn more about this equipment, then contact us to schedule a free consultation.
Michael Gertin
Co-Founder
Technology has changed a great deal in the past few decades. Consequently, so has the ways in which companies package and ship their products. Before such technology became commonplace, most processes were slowly and laboriously done by hand. Nowadays, these processes are handled by specialized equipment that makes them easier, faster, and more precise than ever before. The piece of revolutionary packaging equipment you've likely heard about is the stretch wrapping machine. There are many benefits to using stretch wrapping machines at your packaging facility, from boosted production levels to increased protection for your products. But what do you use stretch wrapping machines for, exactly? What are they, and how do they work? In this guide, we'll go over everything you need to know about stretch wrappers and their use.
A stretch wrap machine is a piece of equipment that automatically wraps pallets with stretch wrap. This keeps the products housed inside of the pallet contained and safe from damage. The main purposes of stretch wrapping are to make products easier to transport in bulk and protect individual products from damage during shipping, so they arrive at their destination point unharmed. Although pallet loads can be wrapped by hand, using machines is the faster, more reliable, and more accurate method due to a couple of reasons that we'll delve into later.
Though all stretch wrappers are designed with the same end goal in mind'to wrap something with stretch wrap'their visual appearance and the way they function varies depending on their design and whether they're semi-automatic or fully automatic.
When it comes to stretch wrapping machines, there are a lot of different options in terms of design and functionality. The most popular types include turntable, rotary arm, and horizontal configurations.
A turntable stretch wrapping machine will feature a turntable, which is a round, revolving platform that turns in a circle while the stretch film is dispensed and applied to the pallet load. This kind of stretch wrapper is ideal for use with most applications, making it extremely versatile.
A mechanical arm that rotates around and wraps the pallet is the key feature of rotary arm stretch wrappers. This kind of stretch wrapper is ideal for use with loads that are on either end of the weight spectrum. Whether the load is super light or super heavy, a rotary arm will work with it perfectly.
A horizontal wrapper dispenses the stretch film from around a ring that surrounds a horizontally laid product. This kind of stretch wrapper is ideal for wrapping lengthy items that would otherwise be hard to wrap, such as windows, doors, lumber, textiles, copper piping, and corrugated tubes.
The way that stretch wrapping machines work depends on whether the machine in question is semi-automatic or automatic.
As the name suggests, an automatic stretch wrapping machine does everything automatically. It carries a pallet to the wrap zone via roller conveyors. Once the machine is done wrapping the pallet, it sends it to the end of the packaging line down the exit conveyor. The next pallet is transferred to the wrap zone, and the process repeats.
A semi-automatic stretch wrapper works similarly to an automatic one. The main difference between the two is that the semi-automatic stretch wrappers require an operator to be present to load and unload the pallet and if needed manually adjust the machinery throughout the process.
You know what stretch wrappers are, the different types of stretch wrapping machines, and how each of their configurations work. But what do you use stretch wrapping machines for? What can these automatic machines do to improve your business's efficiency and bottom line? Well, it turns out they can do quite a lot.
Many business owners wrongly assume that hand-wrapping will save them money. You won't have to spend on machinery if you stick to hand wrapping, they think, and that's true'however, wrapping something by hand is a terribly inefficient and unreliable method that'll cost you more in the long run than purchasing and operating stretch wrapping machinery would. A small business might be able to get by just fine with hand wrapping, but if you're wrapping more than ten loads in a day, you'd be much better off automating the process. There are a couple of reasons for this, which we'll discuss below.
Your employees might be reliable, but it's hard to beat the consistency of machines. Mistakes are only human, and your workers are bound to make the occasional blunder. They might struggle to wrap with the right amount of containment force or end up using more stretch wrap than necessary. Machines, on the other hand, will use the right amount of containment force, as well as stretch wrap, each and every time. In applying the correct amount of containment force, machines ensure that your products remain safe during transit and arrive at their destination safely. They'll also stretch the film more than can be done manually, getting the most out of your stretch film investment. How, might you ask? Let's find out.
Hand wrapping will give you anywhere from 10 to 20 percent stretch of the film. Machine wrapping, on the other hand, can give you anywhere from 200 to 300 percent. Stretch wrappers are now being introduced that get up to 500 percent pre-stretch. By automating the stretch wrapping process, you'll save money on film. This is because the right stretch wrapping technology will pre-stretch the film, allowing you to get more done with less and stretch the use of a single roll of film further.
To sum things up, stretch wrapping machines are used because they're a much better alternative to hand wrapping loads. They're faster, more reliable, and more cost-effective, amongst numerous other benefits.
If you're planning on making the switch from hand wrapping to machine wrapping, Robopac USA has semi-automatic pallet wrappers and other state-of-the-art secondary packaging equipment that can benefit your business. We create our machinery with the latest, most efficient technology and are dedicated to providing our customers with the information and support they need to get the most out of their machines. Come and shop with us today!
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