We read a great article in Packaging Digest titled “Mitigating Packaging Damage in the Supply Chain” and wanted to thank them for talking a bit about our biggest passion – using stretch wrapping technology to make sure your pallet load gets to the right place in the right condition with a minimum of shipping damage.
Some of the key insights from the article include:
Stretch Wrap Equipment and Film Effectiveness
“How appropriately stretch-wrap is applied can be a big factor in whether a product sustains damage. First, it’s important to ensure compatibility between the film used and the stretch-wrap machinery. Another area to examine is the force-to-load measurement, or the amount (in lbs.) of strength/force applied to hold the product together.
It’s important to monitor whether the recommended pre-stretchage is being adhered to in the process.”
Without enough containment force the pallet load is at a greater risk for containment failure and damage. It’s important to wrap every load to meet pre-determined containment force standards.
Securing the load to the pallet, or creating the load-to-pallet bond, is a critical element of effective stretch wrapping. Eliminating any long or dragging film tails also plays a role in ensuring the load stays secured to the pallet.
Check out our recent webinar on the best way to stretch wrap your pallet load.
Heat and Humidity Affect Corrugate
“Forty% of the strength of corrugate is lost within the first 30 days of storage. Higher humidity levels can drastically affect corrugate strength. Corrugate is 71% weaker at 95% humidity vs. 50% humidity.”
Given the trends toward thinner corrugate and corrugate containing more recycled content, preserving the strength and maximizing the performance of your corrugated cases is more important than ever.
The best way to do that is to ensure your cases get off to a good start and are erected so they are “square” (all horizontal and vertical angles are 90 degrees). Cases that are stacked so their sides are aligned vertically have 30 percent more stacking strength.
Click here to learn more about square cases.
It’s a Huge Problem
“As much as 11% of unit loads arriving at a distribution center have some level of case damage. On average, the figure is around 2%.”
Some estimates put the total global value of unsalable products as a result of ineffective stretch wrapping in the just the consumer goods, food, and beverage industries at approximately $60 billion a year!
Here is a post talking about ways to reduce this shipping damage.
Key Solution Plan
“The more in-depth information you uncover and the more precisely you can identify the sources of the issues, the better you’ll be able to develop and execute a corrective action plan.
A key element of this strategy is a root cause analysis, which reveals the “where, what, why” aspects of product damage, setting the stage for impactful, money-saving improvements throughout the supply chain.”
Monitoring packaging line operation and tracking costs resulting from damage provide useful data for evaluating the effectiveness of your stretch wrapping efforts. Creating baseline data so you have clear “before” pictures to compare to makes the search for damage solutions much easier.
Measuring and comparing will give you a concrete understanding of how effective your stretch wrapping efforts are. When tracked consistently, any increases in costs or damage will also serve as the warning sign, alerting you to problems in your pallet wrapping process.
Learn more about reducing shipping damage by clicking here to read more of our blog posts on the topic.
This post was published on November 15, 2016 and updated on April 13, 2017.
November 15, 2016
