Packaging Corner: Track and reduce your stretch wrap use

With high-volume, automatic stretch wrappers unitizing up to 100 loads an hour, rare is the manager who isn’t interested in controlling stretch film costs.

To help users keep tabs on how much stretch film is applied to a load, as well as to track usage (and expense) over time, Orion Packaging Systems offers the Sentinel stretch film monitoring option for use on their automatic stretch wrap machines.

“We’re not the first manufacturer to offer remote monitoring of film use, but our Sentinel system is the only one that physically weighs the film roll before and after the wrap cycle instead of calculating approximate usage based on revolutions,” says Peter Vilardi, director of marketing at Orion Packaging Systems. “Weighing the film most accurately determines how much was used in unitizing each load.”

The system includes a high-definition load cell mounted to the film carriage to weigh the roll and a wireless Bluetooth connection that securely transmits captured data to the machine’s controller. The computer does the math and records the sum weight of film used.
At the machine, the display shows film use either by weight or cost. By monitoring each and every load wrapped, and verifying that the wrap pattern is consistent, it’s possible for customers to reduce film gauge and reduce their overall wrapping costs.

“With a typical load using a half-pound of stretch film, and costing $0.50 to $0.75 to unitize, saving a few cents per load adds up quickly,” Vilardi explains.

Further, the system sends e-mail or text messages to supervisors or maintenance personnel based on a variety of triggers, including low film, film empty or emergency stop.

“These machines tend to be in unmanned areas, so if there’s a film break it may take 15 minutes or longer to be noticed,” he adds. “Alternately, if an operator sees the film is low, the roll might be changed prematurely for convenience—which wastes film. The monitoring system minimizes both downtime and waste.”

In addition to collecting data locally, current and historic information from multiple machines in different locations can be tracked remotely, says Vilardi. “This helps users see trends or spot trouble, possibly caused by a change in machine settings or film type used,” he adds. “The system lets a company gain a complete understanding of its unitizing costs.”