It is amazing how many companies are still hand wrapping their pallet before shipping. In talking to clients we often hear “It’s the way we’ve always done it but we know there is a better way.” Small companies often hand wrap pallets and continue to do so even after they have grown and don’t improve their process. There are times that we see large companies shipping many pallets still hand wrapping product when a machine was needed years ago. Paying warehouse employees to run circles and wasting money on hand film is not the answer. We will identify that total cost of ownership for a pallet wrapper is far less than the labor and consumable costs of hand wrapping.

So what is wrong with hand wrapping your pallets? It seems effective and hand film is cheaper than buying an expensive machine, right? The following 3 reasons will show you the advantages of buying a pallet wrapping machine.

1. Load Containment: The reason why pallets are wrapped is to protect product in shipping so everything arrives in one piece. With automatic pallet wrappers the product is wrapped consistently every time. Hand wrapping pallets is often ineffective either by wasting too much film or not using enough to contain the product.
2. Labor reallocation: By using an automatic pallet wrapper you free up employees to be more productive. They can engage in more profitable work like picking and packing orders or loading trucks rather than running around pallets with hand wrap.
3.  Film Cost Savings:  Wrap consistency and stretch film savings are the two biggest advantages of pallet wrapping machines. The biggest saving with a machine comes from pre-stretching the film. Power pre-stretching the film can reduce the amount of film used by 40%. The film is stretched through powered textured rollers in the film carriage as it dispenses out. Even with low volumes you can save thousands of dollars in stretch wrap by pre-stretching it. Those film savings become the strongest asset in machine purchase justification. In just a few years you can pay off the initial investment. In the years that follow you will have net savings in consumable costs versus the old hand wrapping process.

Check out our pallet wrappers. The models 850PS, 1100AC, 1200UL, & 1100AA-C all have power pre-stretch savings.