Plastic Strapping V Stretch Wrap - What is the cost comparison per pallet wrapped/strapped?

It's not really that difficult to calculate, and if more people took the trouble it's likely there would be a significant reversion to using plastic strapping. There are of course many variables when it comes to applying stretch wrap so lets make some assumptions on which to establish a good cost per pallet approximation:

Stretch Film Assumptions:

Pallet weighing 500 kgs 1200 x 1000 x 1.0 metres high;

Stretch Film used 500mm wide x 23 micron x 20 revolutions to wrap.

Weight of film used 900 grams ( Take it off the pallet and weigh it).

Cost of film/tonne £1300 approx.

Cost of film used approx 43 pence/Pallet.

Strapping Assumptions:

Same pallet as above.

Strapping with a break strength of 300 Kgs weighing 7 grams/metre

Strap Used = 2 x 4.5 = 9 metres x 7 grams = 63 grams

Cost of strapping the pallet say with strap @ £15.00/per thousand metres i.e 1.5 pence/metre would be 1.5 x 9 = 13.5 pence.

Conclusions:

  • Strapping is much more environmetally friendly using only 63 grams of material when compared with 900 grams of stretch film.
  • The difference in the weight of material used is so large that even if the assumptions made for quantity of stretch wrapping used are 50% wrong, or the material is bought for 50% less .... strapping is by far the most economical of the two materials, for load unitisation.
  • Use of stretchfilm is difficult to justify in many instances and particularly where product is already in cardboard boxes offering a good degree of protection to the primary  product, and where the boxes are of reasonable size and can be interlocked layer by layer to provide good inherent load stability.
  • On a more personal level... we ask - would you want a job that involved walking backwards in spirals in a crouched position around pallet after pallet - day after day.


     

 

Popular posts

  1. Polyester strapped timber
  2. Pallet Strapping Machine Mobile
  3. Mobile pallet truck pallet strapping machine
  4. Industrial knee Injuries
  5. Stretch Wrapping Video