Business Justification
Your warehouse team will love you for saving them from the horrible job of hand wrapping, but we know from thousands of companies that you’re probably looking at a machine to solve a business challenge – not just to be a hero to your warehouse team.
Generally, companies considering stretch wrappers have one or more
of these three primary goals:
1. Reduce In-Transit Damage
If you are primarily focused on reducing product damage and loss, a stretch wrapper can help in a variety of ways:
- Most damage occurs as trucks bounce down roads and loads are shuttled between trucks at depots. Consistently wrapping, with the right amount of containment force, is the best protection against in-transit load failure. But, that’s not the only source of damage loss.
- Sometimes products simply disappear. For instance, if a high value product like a machine slides off the pallet often the address information is lost and the product can’t be routed to the proper destination, nor can the shipper be notified. Stretch wrapping can be an effective tool to keep high value products on the pallet and properly labeled for delivery.
- Pilferage is also a challenge. By consistently and properly wrapping your loads, you can protect against pilferage. Opaque film can obscure particularly sensitive items, and proper wrapping both discourages pilferage and helps receivers to readily identify issues at the time of receiving.
2. Increase Throughput
Maybe you’ve landed a big new contract, your sales team has added a number of new accounts, or business is just increasing.
The key is to plan a bit ahead. We suggest not just buying a wrapper for today’s requirements, but exploring what additional capability might be available for a small additional investment today – to provide far more capacity and flexibility later. Different machines have different loads per hour capabilities and productivity enhancing features.
3. Reduce Operating Costs
Stretch film, labor and workplace injuries are all significant factors in most operations. Stretch wrappers often help reduce all three.
The bottom line? Companies wrapping about 50 loads per day often find they can realize savings of approximately $3,500 to $6,500 a year by transitioning from hand wrapping to a machine. Of course every situation is different – your results may vary.
Different goals or requirements?
As often as we see common goals for new wrappers we know that every company is different. Are you considering stretch wrapping as a solution to another challenge? Please give us a call at (502) 815-9108.
We’ve seen MANY different scenarios and might have a specific example that’s relevant to help you as you plan.
Other Resources
Lantech Blogs
Simple Automation
Calculator
“Time is money,” Ben Franklin famously said and it is still true today. How much time and Money are your wasting? Download this calculator to estimate the labor costs you can eliminate with semi-automatic simple automation.
Benefits of Machine Stretch Wrapping eBook
If you’re looking to improve your loading dock operations, download this eBook. Understand how stretch wrapping with a machine can drive economic, efficient and ergonomic improvements.
