If you’ve been googling the words “stretch wrapper” lately, you may be considering whether it’s time to ditch that old, rusty machine in the corner of your shipping dock in favor for an upgrade.
Or, maybe you think your old one still runs just fine and you don’t need to replace it for a while.
But did you know that replacing an old stretch wrapper – whether it still runs or not — with a new one can actually stop you from wasting money on film and labor? Plus, they are safer to operate.
Here are the benefits associated with using a new wrapper equipped with features that can easily save you money and decrease the risk of operator injury.
1. You can stop wasting film costs
Someone who wraps 50 loads a day, and isn’t using pre-stretch, wastes about $35,000 (€32.000) in film over five years. Is this you?
Pre-stretch is the process of elongating film to increase the yield. This happens when two rollers in the film delivery system turn at two different speeds and cause the film to stretch. For example, at 100 percent pre-stretch, 6,000 ft. of film would turn into 12,000 ft.
Most old machines lose pre-stretch value over time, or aren’t even equipped with pre-stretch rollers.
Luckily, most new stretch wrappers can pre-stretch film between 100 percent and 300 percent, ultimately putting thousands of dollars back into your wallet.
2. You can stop wasting labor
Operators must perform a series of about 20 time-consuming steps when getting on and off a forklift to complete a wrap cycle on an old machine. This process adds up to about $50,000 (€46.000) in wasted labor over five years if you’re wrapping 50 loads a day and paying operators $12 (€11) an hour.
Increased automation features eliminate the need to perform these steps by cutting the film at the end of the cycle and holding it for the next. Operators can start the wrap cycle with a lanyard switch or remote control device – all without getting off the forklift.
Another way to save labor has to do with weighing your loads. If you need to weigh your loads, you either have to stack your stretch wrapper on top of a platform scale, or transfer the load to a separate scale – a time consuming process.
Some new stretch wrappers have scales built into their turntables, which can eliminate 30 seconds to 1.5 minutes of double handling loads moving them from the wrapper to a freestanding platform scale. That means eliminating $7,500 (€7.000) to $15,000 (€14.000) in labor over five years.
3. You can decrease the risk for accidents
Old machines may put your operators at high risk for injury.
They may have trip hazards, including exposed motors and turntables that aren’t big enough to fit a load without overhang. Plus, they may not have updated safety features that reduce operator back strain when he attaches the film to the load.
New machines have built-in safety features that older ones don’t. If the load is moving and the film breaks, the load will stop and the operator won’t be tempted to attach film to a moving load.
The best way to manage these risks is to avoid them altogether with new machines that automatically attach and cut film each cycle, taking away the necessity to get on and off a truck to physically operate the stretch wrapper.
To learn more about what a new stretch wrapper can offer go to Lantech.com
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This post was published on November 13, 2015 and updated on March 13, 2019.
November 13, 2015
