What To Consider When Investing In Shrink Wrapping Equipment

By Allison Myers, Senior Marketing Product Manager, Lantech

What we know from experience is that business changes. Not only does the nature of packaging loads tend to change, but that labor costs, staffing, throughput, and a slew of other things change as well. Because of this, it's worth looking at options for upgrades and flexibility throughout the life of a machine before you buy one.

If you're thinking about buying, replacing, or upgrading a stretch wrapper, one of the first, and most fundamental questions, you must ask is, "How will it be loaded — with a forklift or a pallet jack?” That invariably leads to a narrowing range of options, since some machines are designed to only be loaded by forklifts. You might then assume that a machine which can be loaded with a pallet jack is the right choice because it can also, obviously, be loaded with a forklift. And you'd be right... sort of.

Evolving Loads
Today, it seems that nearly every packaging customer has specific requirements for load put-ups, pallet configurations, and labeling. Maybe you normally stack your product five rows high (call it 60 inches). Sooner or later your sales and marketing team will find an exciting new customer whose warehouse receiving requirements call for loads eight rows high. Wouldn't you hate to tell someone the machine you recently bought won't work?

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