Am I best with a rotating arm, ring or turntable pallet wrapper?
A turntable wrapper stretches the film around the load from a reel while the pallet is rotated on a turntable. This basic wrapper is suited to low and medium speed applications and stable loads.
“With these wrappers there is a limit to how light and tall the load can be – maximum height is generally 2.5m,” says Daren Spice, sales and marketing director at Gordian Strapping.
On the plus side, Andrew Grant, group managing director with Samuel Grant Group, notes that a turntable machine requires a much lower level of commitment and planning than a more sophisticated wrapper. “A turntable does not need to be permanently installed and will run off a normal 13 amp socket,” says Grant .
Rotating arm and ring machines are usually chosen where speed is a priority. Both wrap film around a stationary pallet as opposed to rotating the pallet on a turntable, which also makes them the preferred option for unstable loads.
Ring machines have the edge in speed terms, but according to Cristiana De Gasperin of Italian firm Technowrapp, this comes at a cost. “Ring wrappers are more expensive than arm wrappers and need more maintenance. Up to 100-120 pallets per hour it is best to buy an arm wrapper.”
While rotary arm wrappers are available as semi-automatic as well as automatic machines, Grant points out that to benefit from the high speed capabilities of a ring wrapper, pallets will need to be delivered to the wrapping location on a conveyor.
He adds: “Both rotating arm and ring wrappers need to be within a protective cage when operating because the heavy pre-stretch unit moves at some speed around the pallet.”
What speeds can I expect?
Gordian Strapping advises that a semi-automatic turntable wrapper will wrap up to 30 pallets per hour. A semi-automatic rotary arm machine will operate at a similar rate, but will cost a lot more to buy. It might even be possible to get a bit more out of a turntable wrapper – Atlanta Packaging puts the upper limit at 50 pallets per hour, while Technowrapp says some are capable of 60 pallets per hour.
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An automatic rotary arm wrapper will give you 40-60 pallets per hour, according to Gordian. Others are less conservative; Atlanta says a rotary arm wrapper will max out at about 70 pallets per hour, and Technowrapp says up to 120 pallets per hour are possible.
Ring wrappers are the fastest, dominating the 100-plus pallet per hour space.
How much should I expect to spend?
A semi-automatic turntable wrapper will set you back £3,000 to £5,000, depending on whether the film carriage is mechanical (core) brake, electromagnetic brake or power pre-stretch, while a semi-automatic rotary arm will be approximately £9,000, says Gordian.
For an automatic rotary arm wrapper you can expect to pay quite a bit more – Gordian gives a range of £35,000 to £65,000 depending on the speed and options required, and a band of £65,000 to £100,000 for a ring wrapper.
Atlanta Packaging puts the price of a semi-automatic wrapper at between £3,500 and £7,000, and the cost of a fully automatic machine at £20,000 to £50,000.
Why might I want power pre-stretch?
Spice explains: “Standard machine film has a maximum stretch ratio of 40%. Pre-stretch film has a 150-300% stretch ratio and is more expensive than standard machine film. However, because the film is stretched before it is applied to the load, it exerts a higher force on the load, providing more stability and ultimately lower packaging costs per pallet.
To quantify these savings, Atlanta Packaging says that at 200% pre-stretch, one metre of film becomes three metres on the load. Indeed, according to Grant, if you are wrapping more than 10 pallets per day the extra cost of power pre-stretch machinery will be paid back very quickly in cost per pallet.
Would I be better off entering a ‘cost per wrap’ contract rather than buying or leasing a machine?
There has been a surge in companies offering ‘cost per pallet’ rental type schemes to eliminate capital expenditure from balance sheets. Samuel Grant, for example, offers a managed pallet wrapping service, a ‘cost per wrap’ arrangement that includes film and machinery, and CHEP has introduced a pay-as-you-wrap service in conjunction with wrapper manufacturer Lantech.
While such arrangements might be a more cost effective alternative to hand-wrapping, some equipment manufacturers are urging potential users to do the maths before signing up to a pay per wrap scheme instead of buying or leasing a wrapper, as in the long run they could spend much more.
Paddy McCartney, national sales manager of Aetna UK, says: “Over the short term it may seem convenient but by making the comparison with leasing a machine and arranging your own supply of film the ‘pay per pallet scheme’ is very detrimental to cash flow and budgets. The long-term costs of paying per pallet show that customers could actually end up paying for the machinery several times over.”
New strapping, palletising and wrapping equipment round-up
Billed as the world’s fastest rotary arm wrapper, Technowrapp’s B300, available via Integrapak in the UK, is said to combine the speed of a ring wrapping machine with the simplicity of use and maintenance of a rotating arm system.
Available in the UK from Gordian Strapping, the IS45 is the latest addition to the Italian-built OMS range of stretch hooders, and is said to be particularly suited to the white goods industry.
YPS has upgraded the software on its British-built Compact palletiser, giving the user the freedom to create any pallet pattern they want. Another new feature allows the palletiser to collect two packs at the same time, effectively doubling the Compact palletiser’s speed.
At Interpack, Atlanta Packaging will unveil a new entry-level stretch wrapping machine. The Bedfordshire firm has also just launched its Mytho A double reel stretch wrapper, an automatic turntable wrapper said to deliver improved performance over previous models.
Strapping specialist Mosca has launched a new fully-automated cross-strapping machine for the print industry. The Evolution SoniXs TAI-6 automatic tandem strapping machine (pictured left) features a new standardised strap path for efficient installation and maintenance.
At the start of this year ITW Muller launched the compact Octopus ‘C’ automatic rotary ring stretch wrapper. The wrapper incorporates the US firm’s patented Easy S Film Carriage which enables simple film loading, maximises pre-stretch performance and minimises wear, according to ITW.
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