Understanding which pallet wrap is right for your business

With so many options on the market such as different pallet wrap film strengths and grades, hand and machine wrap options, blown or stretch film  – it can become pretty confusing.  You may also be considering  eco-friendly options, health and safety solutions as well as advice on how to be as efficient as possible with your pallet wrap.  Getting this right can have a huge impact on time and budget savings so there’s a lot at stake. So how can you really know which pallet wrap is the right one for your business? Let’s explore the options available.

Hand or machine pallet wrap?

Something to consider is if your operation is spread over a large area and you have lots of people picking and building orders for despatch, hand wrapping would be the preferred option. This will eliminate the travelling time to a machine wrapper and creating bottlenecks.

It really comes down to the size of your business and what will be most cost effective, taking in consideration the trade off in staffing levels and labour time  versus mechanising this process. In a business where a low number of pallets are being wrapped each month, it makes sense to invest in a hand pallet wrap solution over the expense of a pallet wrap machine. But that’s not the end of the story! There are still plenty of opportunities to be had in terms of sustainable options to reduce your single use plastic consumption as well as improving on health and safety in the warehouse. One such product is high performance hand wrap called iWrap which boasts a whole range of features.

iWrap pre-stretched hand wrap has been specifically designed to overcome growing environmental concerns as well as supporting faster yet safer pallet wrapping. Containing 30% recycled plastic content which helps users overcome Plastic Packaging Tax associated costs, it’s also incredibly thin and now available at just 4 micron. What does this all mean for the user? The extended cores top and bottom provide greater reach and support forward wrapping around the pallet which minimises trip and fall hazards. The pre-stretch means it’s much less effort to apply and to achieve pallet stability. And it is this pre-stretch that means much less wrap is required. This all add up to time and plastic savings – and consequently cost. The plastic savings can easily exceed over 45% and cost savings would be at least 35%+.

And the developments don’t stop there. Soon to hit the market will be coreless hand wrap from iWrap which means an even lighter, more ergonomic product  due to the removal of the cardboard core.  This results in a huge reduction in packaging waste and carbon footprint.

Is it time to automate your pallet wrapping?

If your business is wrapping and despatching over 15 pallets a day, it may be a good time to look at automation. There is lots of scope here to gain cost advantages based on the film and machinery used. How the machine is set up will have a huge impact on the amount of film used. The sweet spot is being able to use the least amount of film possible to stabilise the load. Getting the right machinery and the right film is critical and it may be a good time to seek advice to get this optimally set up. There are many high performance films on the market which can deliver incredible results using minimal volumes.  Break through technologies in film materials allow for even further reduction of single use plastic consumption which improves your cost per pallet and green credentials.

High performance machine wrap iWrap is now available in micron thicknesses as low as 9 micron with no loss of pallet stability. The iWrap machine wrap series  also includes 30% recycled plastic content for many variants which again keeps Plastic Packaging Tax associated costs down. You can read more about the science behind  high performance here, but when used on a Power Stretch Wrapping machine – this represents the most efficient cost and plastic combination on the market today. With a film stretch capability of 300%+, this really does provide real value for money for the user.

Next steps 

To fully realise the true cost and time savings available for your operation, why not get in touch for a completely free, no obligation review. Just email us on [email protected] to get started!