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Stretch Wrapping for Optimal Load Containment

Get loads together, then keep them together, with a systematic approach to stretch wrapping.

Sterling Anthony

End-of-the-line is the term describing the operations by which loads are unitized. For the vast majority of packaged goods, those operations involve stretch wrapping. End-of-the-line, however, is a misnomer. That’s because subsequent factors impact whether those loads remain unitized. Although the role of stretch wrapping is universally understood, less understood is how to systematically leverage it for competitive advantage. The key concept is load containment.

What it is. Load containment is the ability of stretch film to keep the load intact; alternatively, it’s the force applied by the stretch film required to maintain load integrity.

Why it’s important. It makes possible the abilities to handle, store, and transport a quantity of goods as a unit, the benefits being operational efficiencies, cost-savings, and safety. Those abilities and benefits are proportional to the extent to which the load is contained within its desired geometry. The worst-case scenario is for the load to come apart, tumbling down. Lesser failures also can be consequential, for example, whenever the load gets out-of-square, e.g. leans, necessitating corrective measures.

How the bottom-line is affected. Most fundamentally, whenever load containment failures result in unsellable goods, there is a direct loss of profits. Other profit leaks occur from the sorting and the disposal of unsellables, along with the assembling of any remaining sellables into new unit loads.

Conventional thinking is outdated. It’s tempting for companies not to take a deep dive into load containment issues. It’s easier to assume that the stretch wrapping was adequate and that load containment failure likely was the result of improper material handling, improper storage conditions, rough transportation, or any of those working in combination. Granted, any of the aforementioned can compromise load containment. Nonetheless, that’s not justification for ignoring possible inadequacies of the stretch film.

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