Orbital stretch wrappers allow you to quickly and efficiently wrap almost any object in flexible packaging film but the benefits of this versatile, cost-saving technology go far beyond that.

Let’s take a closer look at what a horizontal orbital stretch wrapper is, and break down some of the immediate and long-term benefits of adding one to your packaging workflow.

What Are Orbital Wrappers?

Orbital stretch wrappers (also known as ring wrappers, horizontal wrappers, or ringers) were introduced in 1989, and are designed to bundle items and to protect surfaces from debris and damage. The film can be applied in specific sections or across the entire surface at high rates of speed.

For more than three decades, orbital wrapping machines have excelled in the following industries: woodworking, millwork, metals, extrusions, paneling and flooring, window and doors, textiles, and many more. We also have a unique c-style machine that wraps through open objects like tires, rolled products, rings, coils, and window frames.

Benefits of Our Orbital Wrappers

By automating the horizontal wrapping of almost any item, orbital wrappers make it easier to package materials quickly and cost-effectively, boosting your plant capacity.

Other benefits of our orbital wrappers include:

• Consistent protection of materials during shipping and handling
• Easy to use and maintain
• 35 years of developing the best machines on the market
• Savings on packaging materials and resources
• Reduced labor costs
• Improved worker safety and comfort
• Customizable handling for specialized applications.

Types of Orbital Wrappers

Orbital wrappers typically come in one of three main designs. Depending on the application or the level of automation a handling or packaging application requires, users can choose between:

• Semi-automatic horizontal orbital wrappers: The operator manually feeds product through the ring and initiates wrapping with a foot pedal. Greatly increases throughput. All of our machines come standard with dual film reels with auto clamp and cut.
• Automatic horizontal orbital wrappers: Implemented with power conveyor and photo eyes these machines will automatically feed product through the ring and wrap the item and advance it down the line.
• C-style round products orbital wrappers: These machines can either be manually spun or placed on a driven roller table and are used for bundling round or “pass-through” products like tires, rolls of wire or tubing, and door or window frames.

How Do Orbital Wrappers Work?

All orbital wrappers have a ring with a stretch film reel carrier that will apply film as the ring spins around the product. They can be impulse controlled by foot pedal, hand pendant, or managed by a PLC.

Modern orbital wrappers from suppliers like Handle It^® come standard with dual film reels, automatic clamp and cutting along with a high degree of safety built in like a fully enclosed ring so that moving parts are not exposed and a blade guard to prevent injury. Our controls range from simple dial controls to advanced HMI touch screens with user friendly interfacing and simple to control parameters.

Fully automatic orbital wrappers are integrated with conveyors and enable you to completely automate the wrapping process, increasing the gains of labor savings and time savings and injury prevention.

C-style orbital wrappers require items like window or door frames, rolls of piping, or tires to be placed on a rotating table that allows a moveable ring to pass through the center of the object.

Check out this video to see how a Handle It^® C-style orbital wrapper quickly and efficiently wraps a tire.

Different Spin: Eight Benefits of Orbital Wrappers

Now let’s consider eight specific ways that orbital wrappers benefit your operation through clear gains in performance, quality, and efficiency.

1. More Versatility

Automatic and semi-automatic orbital wrappers make wrapping long, narrow products fast, efficient, and easy, allowing you to eliminate bottlenecks at your packaging station and boost your overall handling capacity. We can specify the exact machine and options for your required application.

2. More Efficiency

Packaging can be a pinch point in many manufacturing, warehousing, and distribution operations as workers struggle to wrap large, heavy, or irregular items.

Orbital wrappers automate this time-consuming process, boosting efficiency up and down your line. All Handle It^® orbital wrappers come with dual film rolls, auto film clamp and cut along with some of the fastest ring speeds in the industry.

3. Improved Protection and Coverage

Machine wrapping improves the quality and consistency of your packaging. You’ll improve the protection of your products during shipping and handling and protect the items around them.

Orbital wrapping provides both the load containment of the film along with the coverage to help prevent dirt and debris and surface scratches that a strapping machine could not. You can also apply bubble rolls, foam or cardboard prior to wrapping to give your product additional protection. The stretch film of the orbital neatly bundles this additional protection layer.

4. Savings on Cost and Material

With effective orbital wrapping, you’ll often deliver a similar or better level of protection while consuming less film or other materials. You’ll save on material costs while improving your environmental footprint.

By wrapping your materials more effectively you will also often be able to reduce the size of your packaged products, allowing you to save on shipping costs or store items more efficiently.

5. Better Health and Safety

Lifting and handling heavy items like cabinetry or tires is hard and hazardous work. Protect your workers from injury by automating the wrapping of bulky, heavy, and awkward objects.

Horizontal orbital wrappers are designed to improve the safety and ergonomics of packaging work, especially when integrated with other handling equipment, significantly reducing the risk of accidents or absences due to injury.

Our machines also have safety built into the design. Things like our fully enclosed ring, guarded blades and LED lighting to alert if there is an emergency stop.

6. Smarter Work

Orbital wrapping equipment reduces the labor needed for any packaging operation while boosting capacity and thereby dramatically increasing productivity.

With labor in short supply, you’ll get more out of your available workforce and will free up staff to add value to your operation in other ways.

7. Consistent Quality

Wrapping every item evenly and consistently not only reduces waste, it also ensures everything you ship or store is equally well protected. Reduced breakage, damage, and returns over time equates to a measurable increase in quality.

Through consistent packaging, you’ll also provide your customers with a more attractive and recognizable product.

8. Customizable Performance

Horizontal orbital wrappers are designed to be versatile enough to handle a wide range of packaging shapes and sizes, but they are also customizable to meet your specific product and process needs.

Talk to a reputable supplier like Handle It^® about the right orbital wrapper for your process, and how we can help you integrate wrapping equipment with your workflow and existing machinery for maximum efficiency and savings.

With Handle It^®, Packaging Quality Is a Wrap

Automated horizontal stretch wrapping equipment offers immediate bottom-line benefits to your company including increased productivity and savings on labor, materials, shipping, and overheads.

The biggest benefit of your investment in an orbital wrapping machine, however, lies in consistent improvements over time in quality, operational productivity, and your ability to deliver on promises.

Handle It^® offers a variety of automatic, semi-automatic, and C-style orbital wrappers suitable for a wide range of industrial warehousing, storage, and distribution applications. All Handle It^® orbital wrappers are:

• Designed and manufactured in Europe for over 35 years
• Final assembly, testing, and programming in Milwaukee, WI
• ISO 9000 Certification
• CE compliant

Handle It^® products are composed of only the highest-quality components and are supplied with some of the shortest lead times. We test and pre-program every machine prior to shipment and we back up our equipment with our industry-leading three-year warranty.

Contact us today to learn more or click below to find out how a Handle It^® orbital wrapper can add consistent value and long-term return on investment to your packaging operation.

Save Time & Money With Our New Orbital Wrapping Machines