Wrap that rocks

A concrete block and paver manufacturer secures heavy loads for safer transport and distribution with automated stretchwrapping.

By Sara Pearson Specter, Editor at Large -- Modern Materials Handling, 12/1/2004

Shipping thousands of tons of concrete blocks and paver rocks to their customers both safely and in good condition had become a challenge for Oregon-based Willamette Graystone Inc. The heavy blocks and rocks can easily shift if not secured tightly to their pallets—creating a potentially dangerous situation both in transport and in home centers, where the products are sold.

'We were hand wrapping pallets of blocks using steel bands and stretchwrapping by hand, but the results weren't satisfactory,' recalls Willamette president Don Jones Jr. 'For years, drivers complained that when transporting loads on open flat bed trucks, film tails would blow off and stream down the highway.'

To solve the problem, the company purchased three automated stretchwrappers (Orion Packaging Systems Inc., 800-333-6556), one for each of the company's three Oregon plant locations, in Eugene, East Portland and Bend.

At all three, loads are built inside the plant and then conveyed outside to the wrapper. The pallets of concrete blocks and pavers, measuring 48 × 48 × 80 inches high, can weigh as much as 4,000 pounds. Once there, a high-performance film wrap is pre-stretched and applied to the load by a rotary tower system at the rate of 16 revolutions per minute.

The company has found this method to be more economical and effective than banding and hand wrapping. By automating the film application, Willamette Graystone now achieves up to 425% stretch, reducing film costs by more than 30% compared to hand wrapping. Two employees previously required to handwrap pallets are now free to perform other tasks.

Additionally, the machines incorporate a post-wrap heat sealing film tail treatment device, which securely attaches the film tail to the load. This keeps the tails in place as the loads are transported over the road.

'It's more efficient to wrap the pallets with a machine, but the biggest news for me is we now are shipping out better stabilized loads,' Jones says.

'We don't have to worry about safety in handling the blocks,' he continues.

Willamette Graystone's customers appreciate the extra security provided by tight stretchwrapping as well. 'Home centers that sell our product can stack the pallets high with a forklift and not have to worry about the load shifting and falling over,' Jones affirms.

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(Modern Materials Handling Caseboook - Mid-October 2004)