What’s the best process for buying shink-wrap for your equipment?
Shrink-wrapped products in trays, on pads, or simply bundled in polyethylene film are a cost effective and sustainable way to transport palletized consumer products through the distribution network. Shrink wrapping offers significantly lower material costs by reducing or eliminating the need for higher priced corrugated board. Film in this application is a more sustainable choice than corrugated because less material is sourced. Rolls of film take up a smaller amount of room in over-the-road trailers, offering savings on transportation, and film rolls conserve warehouse space compared to corrugated shipping cases. Retailers appreciate the easier handling of films. And, polyethylene film is every bit as recyclable as corrugated, another plus in terms of sustainability. In an era demanding economical packaging that uses less material and is recyclable, packaging utilizing polyethylene shrink film for multipacks makes sense.
The first tip is to partner with a shrink wrap original equipment manufacturer (OEM) to test pallet loads of multipacks in the distribution network.
The high-stacking strength and stability of many primary or secondary packaging makes those packages ideal for film-only shrink bundles when palletized. Some packaging may need the support of trays or corrugated pads on a pallet. There are, however, fragile products or less strong primary and secondary packaging not suitable for shrink-wrapped distribution. The problem is how to determine whether the product and packaging in question are candidates for shrink-wrapped multipacks.
Purchasing a shrink wrapper with a supplier that is set up to, and encourages, test runs of shrink wrapping and palletizing multipacks.
A first tier OEM will evaluate trays, pads, and unsupported bundles in various pack patterns. The OEM will palletize the multipacks and prepare them for transport through the distribution network. For the utmost in ascertaining the feasibility of shrink wrapping, the OEM will make pallet loads available to testing labs. Upfront testing of products new to shrink wrapping is an excellent strategy for not only determining feasibility and projected savings, but also to determine optimum pack patterns and whether trays or pads are required.
This is just the first part of the entire article by Eric Vorm. To read it in full, please head over to Packaging Strategies, May 2016.
Eric Vorm
Vice President of Tekkra
Eric Vorm has over 30 years of experience in the packaging machinery industry. He is currently the Vice President of Tekkra, powered by Pro Mach, based in Michigan. Pro Mach also recently acquired Stork-Texwrap, an innovative manufacturer of fully automatic shrink wrapping systems, based in Missouri, to expand its rapidly growing secondary packaging product line.