The Background
A manufacturer of household name odour neutralisers invited Hazel 4D to review the problems they were having with their pallet wrapping.
Founded over 30 years ago, the manufacturer dispatches over 30 pallets a day of high-quality products to major supermarkets across the UK.
The Challenge
The company was producing powdered and liquid odour neutralisers and packing them in shrink wrapped cardboard sleeves before palletising them.
Their pallet wrapping machine was so old and worn that operators were having to wrap pallets several times in an attempt to stabilise them. But even this wasn’t enough as they were still experiencing significant damage to their products in transit.
The company’s engineering manager attended the PPMA Total Show to look for pallet wrapping solutions and visited Hazel 4D’s exhibition stand.
Hazel 4D’s load stability experts successfully demonstrated how our knowledge, combined with Extremus Stretch Film and Atlanta Stretch pallet wrapping machinery, could solve the problems they were having.
Our Approach
After the exhibition, a Hazel 4D consultant visited the manufacturer’s site to run tests on their existing pallet wrapping machine and 20 micron stretch film.
We made general observations about the process, calculated the weight of film used, the number of revolutions needed to wrap a pallet and the pre-stretch of the film.
We prepared a report of our findings and made recommendations about how their pallet wrapping processes could be improved.
The solution
Hazel 4D worked with the company’s operations manager and engineering manager to achieve the maximum possible savings in terms of applied film cost, waste elimination, efficiencies and damage reduction.
We replaced their old pallet wrapper with a new Atlanta Synthex PPS pallet wrapping machine and swapped their 20 micron stretch wrap for our 12 micron nano Extremus Stretch Film, a high-performance load holding film with a high tear resistance.
We optimised the settings of the wrapping machine and used our state-of-the-art mobile testing system to measure the forces exerted on wrapped pallets to identify instabilities and improve the rigidity of the pallets.
The outcome
The combination of Extremus Stretch Film and the Atlanta Synthex machine stabilised the pallets on the first attempt!
By switching to Extremus Film, the pre-stretch of the film has increased from 5% to 258%, drastically increasing the stability of the pallets. This has significantly reduced product damage in transit, preventing returns and saving time and money.
By reducing the thickness of the stretch film and eliminating the need to wrap pallets several times, the company now uses 87% less plastic film than before!
Their cost to wrap a pallet has reduced by 80%, saving them a whopping £11,060 a year on stretch film.
The quality of the Extremus Film has improved the presentation of the pallets and they can now wrap 128 pallets with one roll of film, compared to just 16 with their previous film.
The manufacturer was extremely pleased with their results and commented that Hazel 4D’s consultant “was very thorough!”
Summary of Benefits Achieved
- Annual stretch wrap spend reduced by £11,060
- Plastic film use reduced by 87%
- Significantly less film needed to wrap each pallet
- Cost to wrap a pallet reduced by £1.49 per pallet
- Increased average pre-stretch of film by 253%
- 112 more pallets wrapped with one roll of film
- Improved stability of pallets
- Reduced damages in transit
- Reduced need for roll changeovers
- Saved time
- Improved presentation of pallets