Scope, wrap, rope
Preventing film slippage on a pallet
“We’re recommending roping units for clients that are experiencing product damage from film slipping and riding up during transport.”
Tying it all together
“We combat wrap riding up by installing a roping device to the pallet wrapper. This locks the film down, the banding machine both strengthening the film and increasing the force to load ratio. The client ends up with tighter, stronger pallets and safe, secure transportation.”
How does it work?
“Quite simply, the banding unit works to bunch up the film in order to increase the strength of the film. If you’ve ever bunched a band of film in your hand and tried to tear it apart you will know just how tough this is. The unit has two nylon rollers on an adjustable slide at the top and bottom of the film – which can be manually adjusted to band the outside edges of the film. On more advanced systems the rollers are pneumatically adjusted. The roping patterns can be built into the machine’s programming.”
Wrap right? No sweat.
“Banding can also be used to create gaps in the wrap to allow air movement. This is beneficial for clients wrapping hot fill products (i.e. flour) into paper bags, or beverages. Sometimes products sweat, and the resulting condensation can spoil paper packaging and bottle labelling. It’s also helpful when a product like meat or cheese needs to be cooled down or frozen. Having gaps in the wrap means the cold air can get to the product quicker – speeding up the cooling process and ensuring a more energy-efficient approach.”
Test to make it best.
“We don’t recommend roping units unless a suitable testing process is undertaken first. There are other factors that can come into play with how stretch film reacts during movement so it’s important to look at the big picture of the pallet lifespan before making any recommendations.”
What are the results like?
“Have a read of our recent case study at NZ Drinks to see how this leading New Zealand company refreshed their pallet packaging processes to take a 50% return rate of damaged goods right down to 0%.”
Want to band together?
“Get in touch either with me or one of the team here at Universal Packaging. After a few quick questions, we can get out on site and start in with a simple, non-intrusive testing process.”
