Your Main Challenge
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 wrappers have one or more of these three primary goals:
- Reduce in-transit product damage or loss
- Increase throughput
- Reduce operating costs
…it’s a pretty simple set of considerations.
Reducing Damage and Loss
If you’re 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 and loss. Sometimes products simply disappear. Wrapping isn’t a guarantee against that, but what customers tell us is that often high value products (e.g. machines) are loaded individually on pallets. If the machine slides off the pallet, then often the address information is lost and the product can’t be routed to the proper destination, just as the shipper can’t be notified. Stretch wrapping can be an effective tool to keep high value products like that on the right pallet and properly labeled for delivery.
And then there’s pilferage. 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.
Increase Output
Maybe you’ve landed a big new contract, your sales team has added a number of new accounts, or business is just increasing. That’s the old “good problem to have.”
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. Compare them here.
Reduce Operating Costs
Stretch film, labor and workplace injuries are all significant factors in most operations. Stretch wrappers often help reduce all three. We have some great tools that you can use to help build the justification for your new wrapper.
The bottom line? Companies wrapping about 50 loads/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. Call us and we can offer more specific guidelines based on your situation.
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.