Challenge
The Plastic Manufacturer had noticed issues with their current stretch wrap machines. The stretch machines were only producing a 20% stretch on the film which caused a large amount of film waste as well as an inefficient load containment.
Increasing Pallet Wrapping Productivity with Wrap It Right and the Lantech Q-300XT
Case Study: Plastic Product Manufacturer
Overview
A Plastic Product Manufacturer located in the London area, was experiencing issues with their current stretch wrappers. The Manufacturer currently had two stretch wrappers that were each over 20 years old and were not achieving ideal stretch rates with their stretch film.
A Packaging Specialist visited the Manufacturer’s facility to complete a Wrap It Right audit. The Packaging Specialist was able to tell right away that the age of the stretch wrappers was the main issue. The Packaging Specialist recommended a Lantech Q-300XT Stretch Wrapper paired with G60 Guardian Stretch Film to upgrade their outdated equipment.
Crawford Packaging was able to improve the Manufacturer’s efficiency throughout their stretch wrapping process. The Wrap It Right program reduced the amount of film used and pallets are now being wrapped quicker.
Process
A Crawford Packaging Specialist met with the Manufacturer’s Warehouse Supervisor to review their current stretch wrap process. Once the Packaging Specialist noticed the age of the machines, he decided to conduct a Wrap It Right audit. The Wrap It Right audit confirmed what he suspected; the age of the machines was the hindering factor in the stretch wrapping process.
Two machines were tested in the process to see which stretch wrapper would work best:
Option 1: Lantech Q300XT
Option 2: Wulftec SML 200
After thorough testing, the Manufacturer decided that the Lantech fit the process best. The Wulftec SML 200 hot wire film cutter was not ideal for their operation.
Solution:
Wrap It Right
Crawford’s Wrap It Right Program works with clients to audit and review their existing stretch film practices and equipment to identify inefficiency. Wrap It Right will increase productivity and reduce costs through standardization of load containment and stretch film practices. Through the Wrap It Right program, clients have realized up to 30% on their annual stretch film costs.
Lantech Q-300XT
The Lantech Q-300XT was designed to save hours of a fork truck and operator time every day. The operator does not have to leave the fork truck to begin or end each wrapping cycle. This is completed by the Q-300XT which is capable of attaching the film to start the cycle and cut the stretch film once the load has finished. During high productivity, this Semi-Automatic Turntable Stretch Wrapper can wrap up to 40 loads per hour.
The Lantech Q300XT along with G60 Guardian Film was the perfect solution for the Manufacturer. The Q-300XT paired with the new machine film reduced the amount of film being used and allowed the Manufacturer to wrap more skids per roll of film.
Results
This knowledge-based stretch wrap solution has helped the Plastic Manufacturer greatly. The Manufacturer has seen an increase in productivity, a reduction in waste and labour as well as an increase in throughput. The Wrap It Right program proved extremely successful in improving this Manufacturer’s stretch wrapping process.
Improved Stretch Wrap Productivity
The customer saw immediate improvement with the time taken to wrap a skid. With the new stretch wrappers and stretch film, the wrap time was significantly reduced.
Reduced Waste
The new stretch wrappers were extremely efficient compared to the old machines the customer replaced. The Lantech Q-300XT’s reduced the amount of film being used as it properly stretched the film.The film weight was cut by over 33% with Crawford’s Guardian G60 versus their existing film. The film was also about to stretch up to 225% compared to a previous stretch of 20%.
Reduced Labour
With the Q-300XT’s lanyard system, our customer no longer needed to have an operator get off a forklift to start the stretch wrap process and cut the film.
Increased Throughput
With 6 rotations less per skid and a saved 90 seconds per wrap cycle in labour, there should be no need for additional wrapping shifts or staff.
Reduced Damage
Crawford Packaging doubled the Manufacturer’s containment force and met standards set for the Manufacturer’s skid weights.