Compared to hand stretch wrapping, stretch film machines can significantly improve the speed and productivity of your warehouse operations by simply being faster and more efficient than using hand stretch wrapping.
Before these machines, the process of packing and wrapping with the stretch film was long and labor-intensive. Most warehouse and logistics companies these days have invested heavily in automatic film machines to improve their logistics operations with speed and efficiency and better deployment of their manpower. Compared to hand stretch wrapping, the machines require only one person to operate, while hand stretch wrapping would require two to three staff to complete the task.
What is a Stretch Film Machine
Simply put, they are machines that wrap pallets of products automatically by placing the pallet on a turn table. Wrapping the pallet with specialized machine roll stretch film keeps your products secure and prevents them from falling out and getting lost during shipping. Especially for products that are going to be shipping using multiple transport methods, the loading and unloading process can easily cause items to become lost.
Another advantage is the plastic film will keep the pallets stable and prevent items from shifting around and therefore preventing instability of the pallet when they are being forklifted. Though you can wrap pallets by hand, it’s faster, safer, more accurate, and more efficient to use a stretch film machine.
Types of Stretch Film Machine
There are several types of machines on the market that use different technologies to achieve the same goal. Here is a summary of three of them.
Turntable – This is the platform where your pallet will be placed. It will spin the pallets as it’s being wrapped to ensure that the pallet is wrapped evenly from top to bottom. This machine is one of the most commonly used stretch film machines on the market.
Rotary Arm – As the name suggests, this type of machine uses a mechanical arm that rotates around your pallet. Unlike the turntable type, your pallet stays still while the arm rotates around the pallet at high speed. It’s suitable for either extremely light pallets or those that are on the other extreme where they are immensely heavy.
Horizontal – The horizontal film wrapper allows your product to be laid flat (or horizontally). A ring then surrounds your product and dispenses film around your product by moving along the length of your item. This type of machine is especially useful for wrapping lengthy items. For example, windows, doors, or even metal poles and piping.
Automatic or Semi-Automatic
The two major types of machines available on the market are automatic and semi-automatic. Below is a brief description of each type.
Automatic – This type of automatic wrapping machine, as the name suggests, is fully automatic. You just place your pallet or product on the turntable, and the machine will automatically dispense the film. They are usually used in conjunction with a conveyor belt. When a pallet arrives, the machine will begin wrapping it automatically, and once done, it will send the pallet down the conveyor belt in preparation for the next pallet. This is an extremely quick and efficient way to wrap multiple pallets for a large warehouse operation.
Semi-Automathic – Semi-automatic machines work in an almost identical fashion to automatic ones. The key difference is that the semi-automatic machine needs an operator to load and unload the pallet and monitor the wrapping process and make adjustments when necessary.
MMP Corporation produces a variety of machine roll stretch films for your daily warehouse needs. Our wrapping films are durable and cost-effective and will improve your warehouse operations.
