Many companies are realizing the benefits of switching from manual to automatic processes. But fully automatic systems can be costly. As True Value Hardware discovered, semi-automatic systems are a viable option.

The hardware supplier previously employed 25 people in two shifts to manually wrap pallet loads each day. The task was strenuous for workers. Pallet loads containing varying products such as light bulbs, fertilizer, power tools and lawn mowers made the units cumbersome to wrap by hand.

Furthermore, "a significant number of damaged product or poorly wrapped packages occurred toward the end of shifts and increased during heavy demand periods," True Value operations manager Roger Hansen says. "This indicated to us that the 'fatigue factor' was impacting the quality of our shipping."

Two new semi-automatic stretch wrappers at the company's Springfield, Ore. facility eliminated the fatigue factor and end-of-the-line damage while picking up the pace of wrapping loads. In addition, labor requirements were greatly reduced because wrapping now entails simply attaching film ends to loads and activating the stretch wrapper. The wrappers improve worker ergonomics as well.

"Back injuries were reduced and we haven't had a lost time accident in shipping since the installation," Hansen explains.

In addition, the wrappers can now accept loads of random heights—a perfect fit for the company's awkward load sizes.

The wrappers' unique rotating stand is another benefit. It cuts costs by allowing a single machine to wrap pallets in three stations. Its mast and carriage arm rotates 360 degrees to accommodate the three positions. This feature enables a higher throughput without the high cost of buying a fully automatic system. It increases the speed of stretch wrapping operations by 20%. Productivity rose from about 2,300 pounds per operator hour to 3,700 pounds after installation.

Semi-automatic wrapping also reduces film costs by more than 200%. A pre-stretch film delivery system applies films at stretch levels of 245%, whereas the manual method applied film at 15%. Improved pre-stretching makes film stronger and more able to contain True Value's various products.

"We estimated the combined cost savings of operator pounds wrapped per hour and film to be over $10,000," Hansen says. "A larger operation could expect to save significantly more."