How do I Choose the Best Pallet Wrapper?

A pallet wrapper is a very important piece of equipment that is used by companies to ship freight all over the world—naturally, it is important to find one that can meet the business's demands. Smaller companies may be perfectly justified in purchasing a manual pallet wrapper that a single employee can walk around the pallet with, but larger corporations will require a much more efficient method. When considering the best pallet wrapper for a larger shipping business, it is important to look at features like revolving platforms, auto-feeders and the overall speed in which the pallet wrapper operates. It is also important to find a model that carries an exceptional warranty, which is often indicative of the overall quality.

Busy shipping warehouses may need to wrap hundreds of pallets per hour, and since trucking schedules are dependent on properly-stacked pallets, this is a serious issue. Unfortunately, it is common to enter a factory and witness a pallet wrapper working at maximum speed while the forklift driver wraps an additional pallet by hand, and this happens because the machinery was not purchased with the maximum workload in mind. A high-end pallet wrapper may have multiple platforms that can evenly distribute shrink wrap from top to bottom in seconds. Of course, some cargo is simply not designed to be packaged that quickly, and a pallet wrapper with a rotating arm may be a better choice.

There are two main types of automated pallet wrappers available to businesses; one rotates the shrink wrap around the pallet while the other turns the pallet itself. Many industries can use either type effectively for their everyday business concerns, but each unit actually has a few pros and cons. Models that rotate the pallet can often operate at much higher speeds while giving up control of the tension applied. Automated pallet wrappers that implement a rotating arm can be used on a wider variety of cargo at variable speeds, but they often take up much more space.

Regardless of the type of pallet wrapper chosen, it is equally important to inspect the overall quality of the unit. The top models will often carry lifetime warranties for parts and labor while inexpensive units may not have any type of guarantee at all. Purchasing a quality pallet wrapper will reduce problems like maintenance downtime and poor performance, which are always crucial factors within the shipping industry.