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Wagner cushions savings

For years, Wagner Spray Tech Corp., a provider of painting and decorating products, used folded corrugated inserts to protect its professional-grade paint sprayers during shipment.

Wagner Spray Tech uses foam-in-bag systems and rotary molders (above) on three packaging lines to protect the professional-grade
Wagner Spray Tech uses foam-in-bag systems and rotary molders (above) on three packaging lines to protect the professional-grade

However, the method’s complexity—some products required as many as seven inserts—led the Minneapolis company to seek a simpler cushioning solution.

“Our paint sprayers range in weight from a 30-pound unit packaged in a 16x10x10-inch case to a 150-pound unit that goes into a 34x25x25-inch case,” says Wade Isaacson, manufacturing engineering manager. “We needed a packaging system that accommodated both the lighter and heavier products, while maintaining our case sizes.”

That system proved to be Sealed Air’s Instapak® Gflex® high-performance polyurethane foam packaging. It enabled Wagner Spray Tech to save 20% to 45% on material costs and reduce packaging labor by 50%.

It is used in conjunction with Sealed Air’s SpeedyPacker® foam-in-bag packaging system that dispenses foam-filled bags in a variety of sizes. Once dispensed and placed around a product in a case or in a mold, the foam expands inside the bag to form a protective cushion. The Gflex foam is specifically engineered to accommodate heavy products that require protection from multiple impacts during shipping.

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