Reducing Shipping Damage and Waste with Wrap It Right and the Wulftec SML 150

Case Study: Beauty Product Distributor

Overview

A beauty company in the Greater Toronto Area was experiencing poor load containment and high damage rates during shipping. The high frequency of damaged loads created excessive amounts of lost and damaged product. The Beauty Company was currently wrapping pallets with a hand stretch film they purchased through an online retailer.

A Packaging Specialist and Crawford’s Industrial Automation Manager visited the Beauty Company’s facility to assess their pallet wrap procedure and conduct a Wrap It Right audit. Crawford discovered the Beauty Company’s hand stretch film procedure was creating poor load containment, excessive amounts of film waste and poor efficiency.

Crawford recommended a semi-automatic turntable stretch wrapper to replace their current hand film solution. After a demonstration and trail of a new stretch wrapper, the Beauty Company added a Wulftec SML 150 to their packaging line. The Beauty Company now has better load containment that dramatically reduced the number of unsaleable products. The semi-automatic stretch wrapper solution has also greatly reduced film waste and allowed the reallocation of labour to key areas of the facility

Challenge

A Beauty Company was experiencing high damage rates during shipping which created an excessive amount unsalable product. The Beauty Company was wrapping all pallets manually with hand stretch film. This hand film procedure was not an ideal solution for operations with high production levels, as hand wrapping is often time-consuming. Employees wrapping the pallets were using excessive amounts of hand stretch film to create a secure pallet.

Process

A Packaging Specialist and Crawford’s Industrial Automation Manager visited the Beauty Company’s facility to conduct a Wrap It Right audit. This audit assess the challenges and goals of pallet wrapping. The Beauty Company was experiencing high production levels, waste and labour costs. The Company was also expected to grow within the next five years.

The Beauty Company was hesitant to switch to an automated stretch wrapping solution and did not see the benefit. Crawford offered to place a demonstration machine in their facility for a week to see how it fit their operation. A demonstration unit of the Wulftec SML 150 was installed and Crawford trained the Beauty Company’s employees on safety precautions and operation. After the week trial of the Wulftec SML 150, the Beauty Company changed their initial opinion on automation and was onboard with the switch.

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.

Wulftec SML 150 Semi-Automatic Turntable Stretch Wrapper

Wulftec SML 150 is an efficient alternative to manual stretch wrapping solutions. The Wulftec SML 150 Semi-Automatic Stretch Wrapper can wrap 55 loads per hour. The SML 150 ensures the right amount of film is applied to the pallet with a pre-stretch rate of 200%.

Results

This knowledge-based solution has helped the GTA Beauty Company to eliminate load containment issues that created unsalable product. This new automation solution has allowed the Beauty Company to reallocate labour to other key areas.

 

Reduced Shipping Damage

The new Wulftec SML 150 stretch wrapper creates a secure load every time. The improved load containment has significantly reduced the number of shipping damages and unsalable product. The Beauty Company’s previous hand film solution did not create a secure load.

 

Increased Productivity

The Beauty Company is now capable of stretch wrapping 55 loads per hour with their new Wulftec SML 150 semi-automatic stretch wrapper. The productivity of their previous hand film solution was dependent on how quickly an employee could wrap a skid by hand.

 

Reduced Stretch Film Waste

The Beauty Company has seen a significant reduction in stretch film waste. The Wulftec SML 150 ensures the right amount of film is applied to each pallet. The Beauty Company’s previous hand film solution created a lot of wasted film and employees had to use excessive amounts to create a secure pallet.

Reduced Labour

With the automated stretch wrapping solution, the Beauty Company has been able to reallocate labour that was previously wrapping skids to other key parts of the facility.

 

Increased Throughput

With the reduction in shipping damages, the Beauty Company no longer must replace, and re-ship lost product to retailers.

 

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