Stretch wrap inventor offers EU beverage & food manufacturers time-tested methodology
Cuijk, Netherlands 8/1/17 – The weight and instability of beverage truckloads exacerbate an already lethal situation on EU highways. Trucks make up 11 percent of the EU vehicle fleet, but they’re responsible for approximately 15 percent of all deaths caused by traffic accidents.* As yet, there are no regulatory standards governing the shipment of beverages and bottled water, or any other kind of load. However, that situation is about to change.
As of June 2018, the EU will require that all cargo be tested and certified for load rigidity. This new European Parliament DIRECTIVE 2914/47, which is aimed at reducing fatalities caused by heavy-load vehicles, will shift liability from transport companies to manufacturers who ship uncertified loads that cause accidents.
Lantech, the company that introduced stretch wrap technology in 1972, will demonstrate how its machines can secure even the most challenging loads at drinktec, the world’s leading trade fair for the beverage and liquid food industry, Sept. 11-15 in Munich. Visitors to the Lantech exhibit can interact with stretch wrappers that secure product based on user-customized, load specific profiles. This performance-tested method can help beverage and food companies prevent in-transit damage, save money, and maintain compliance with the new mandate.
Compliance Testing & Load Security
Compliance testing will follow a methodology developed by EUMOS, a non-profit association that promotes state-of-the-art load-securing logistics. According to industry sources, testing for each load will take a half day at 9 certified facilities, using a sophisticated impact device, or acceleration “sled.” Lantech has special testing equipment (including an acceleration sled) and more than 40 years’ worth of evidence indicating that containment force (the force that holds the load together) is the most important factor in achieving load security.
“As beverage manufacturers scramble to figure it out, there’s a growing realization that more effective stretch wrapping is a big part of the solution,” said Lantech Chairman Pat Lancaster. “At Lantech, we’ve known for decades that containment force is paramount, so we’re prepared to guide them in wrapping loads that are stable and safe for shipment.”
Observation & Experience
Correlative testing and logistical experience have provided Lantech with a wealth of data, and produced an evidence-based prototype for maximizing load wrap quality that includes:
- Specified containment force (with high and low limits) at the top, middle and bottom of the load
- Each load effectively bonded to the pallet with a rolled or gathered rope placed above the fork truck entry of the pallet
- No dragging film “tails”
This regimen is based on the scientifically validated principle that it’s better to replicate a well established process than to test and reinvent something that hasn’t been proven effective. With more than 500 million tons of product damaged in-transit annually, the Lantech formula holds great promise for companies that must improve on a “just-wrap-it-and-ship-it” approach. “We don’t know what exactly the EU load certification process will look like, but we have a method for achieving load wrap quality that’s proven reliable,” Lancaster said. “In the meantime, we’ll continue to track the certification process as it develops, and we’re prepared to offer manufacturers assistance through our own testing process, a discipline that’s readily available and replicable.”
About Lantech
In 1972, Lantech, LLC invented stretch wrap equipment and changed the way the world packages and protects its goods as they move about the planet. Billions of pallet loads are stretch wrapped are every year. Although we’ve expanded our product line with case erectors and sealers, our mission remains the same – to help our customers ship their products so they reach their destinations in the same condition they were in when they left – and at the lowest cost.
Download a PDF version of this press release.
Contact Information:
Shea Sutherland
Director of Marketing
502-815-9107
SheaS@lantech.com
