Why should You Invest in A Pallet Wrapping Machine?

Tyler RobertsMay 27, 2021

484 3 minutes read

Are you wondering whether you should invest in a pallet wrapping machine or strapping machine? Although they’re a capital investment, these kinds of machines increase productivity and repay your investment quickly.

Here’s why. Not only can an automated solution for pallet wrapping protect your products during shipping, but they also cut down on wasted time for your workers. Overall, increased productivity will increase profitability in your operation.

Let’s consider the reasons for investing in these machines.

Why consider a pallet wrap machine?

If your operation is wrapping over ten pallets a day, you should assess whether you could benefit from a pallet wrap machine.

The reasons for an investment in a pallet strapping machine come down to one word: cost. Manual strapping costs your business money in several ways.

Firstly, manual wrapping is inefficient. Machines are more efficient which means less damage to your goods. Your products are protected because machines can apply wrap more tightly and consistently. When fewer goods are lost to damage, you may be able to save in insurance costs too.

Secondly, there are employee hours wasted in manual strapping, as well as wasted strapping materials.

Check with your workers. How long does it take to wrap a pallet manually, and how many pallets are wrapped each day? Once you know the hours involved, you’ll know how many employee hours are wasted and the amount of money it’s costing.

It’s worth checking on employee injuries too. How many working days have been lost due to injuries sustained in wrapping pallets?

Then consider the cost of stretch film wrapping tape. It’s been estimated that you can save 20% of the cost of materials when pallets are wrapped by machine. Not only is a machine faster and more consistent in wrapping, a machine uses wrap more efficiently.

It’s also worth considering that machine wrapping looks better. Customers notice your operation’s professionalism. When you take better care of your products, your products appear superior to your competitors’.

Finally, check with suppliers: what’s the price of a pallet wrap machine? When you consider all the costs, you may be shocked at how quickly such a machine will pay for itself.

Let’s look at the benefits of a pallet strapping machine in more detail.

1. Pallet wrapping machines lower costs to your business

Not only is a pallet wrap machine faster, but it’s also consistent in film application and frees workers to handle other tasks. Pallet wrapping machines are available in two forms: semi-automatic and fully automatic.

They lower your costs because they apply strapping film more evenly to a pallet, with consistent tension from the bottom to the top. You save on plastic film and increase the security of the goods on each pallet.

Equally, the machines are faster than employees using manual wrapping, and better too, especially if the products being wrapped are heavy and unusually bulky. A man moving around a pallet with a handheld machine can’t apply the wrapping film with the consistent tension which is possible for a machine.

2. Wrapping speed increases productivity and profitability

Consider that pallet wrapping and loading may produce a bottleneck in your operation’s productivity. It’s worth checking for delays on the factory floor, in the warehouse, and on the loading dock too. Each and every delay is costing your operation money.

With faster wrapping and loading of pallets, could more workers be assigned to other parts of your operation, increasing productivity?

Also, consider the costs due to damaged products. How many pallets are damaged because of toppling or shifting loads each month? When wrapping pallets with stretch film, the full stretch of the film secures the goods. If the insufficient stretch is applied, then products will shift on the pallet, which means that damage is more likely.

It’s worth considering too, whether goods damaged in transit are hurting you with customers, who depend on their orders arriving on time and in good condition.

When considering suppliers, could you lose customers due to goods that are damaged in transit, causing your customers delayed operations and cost increases?

3. Decreases worker injuries

Manual wrapping, especially of tall pallets as well as short pallets, rapidly leads to worker fatigue, with subsequent injury.

Workers are injured with tall loads because it’s hard to apply to wrap securely if the pallet’s load is taller than the worker. With short pallets, constant bending leads to fatigue, which leads to back injuries.

4. A pallet wrap machine reduces the costs of consumables

Manufacturers of the strapping film suggest that a machine can apply a 300% stretch to a pallet: compare this to a mere 50% stretch obtained from manual wrapping.

How much could your operation save in consumables if you save money on each pallet?