Choosing the Right Pallet Wrapper

Are you considering adding or upgrading a Pallet Wrapper to your packaging line? With so many options in the marketplace, knowing where to start can be overwhelming – high-profile versus low-profile, semi-auto versus full auto, integrated versus offline, and so on. To help simplify your search, Rapid Packaging has compiled the top four questions to ask yourself about your application to help narrow down the search in choosing the right pallet wrapper. This post will explore each question and tell you what you need to know to make sure you select the right pallet wrapper to successfully keep your packaging line running at the most productive speed.

How are you loading the pallet wrapper?

How you are loading a pallet wrapper is essential to know to find the right pallet wrapper. If you are currently using a pallet jack, consider getting a low-profile pallet wrapper with a loading ramp. The ramp will allow you to easily roll your pallet onto the Wrapper.

If you are only using a forklift, a high-profile pallet wrapper should work for you. High profile turntables provide a more visible target when the forklift places the pallet on the turntable. It is also easier to damage a low-profile turntable when using a forklift.

How much do your pallets weigh?

When choosing the right pallet wrapper, you need to know how much the pallets weigh. Most semi-automatic pallet wrappers have around a 4,000-lb weight capacity. If you need to know how much your pallet weighs considering adding a scale to your pallet wrapper. The scale option will allow you to quickly get the weight of your pallets to get it ready to ship out the door.

If you know your pallet loads are well over 4,000-lbs, your next option would be a rotary arm pallet wrapper. A rotary arm pallet wrapper is ideal for almost any wrapping situation because it can wrap pretty much any load size. Since the load remains stationary there is no turntable, they are ideal for wrapping very light, very heavy, tall, and unstable loads.

Pallet Wrapper

How many pallets are you loading per day?

How many pallets are you loading per day will help determine if we should go with a semi-automatic pallet wrapper or a fully automatic pallet wrapper. For example, say you are wrapping around 5-pallets per hour; you will not need a High Speed Pallet Wrapping Machine so a semi-automatic wrapper would handle that demand. Semi-automatic wrappers need an operator to start the machine and place the stretch wrap on the pallet to start the wrapping process.

Once you get up to 35 pallets per hour, we would need to start thinking about an automatic wrapper that provides higher throughput capacity and will automatically start wrapping once the pallet is placed on the wrapper. The operator just places the pallet down and the machine takes care of the rest.

What size pallets do you use?

Finding out what size pallet you use will help determine what size turntable you may need. A standard 40” x 48” sized pallet will fit on the standard size turntable. If you are using a pallet that is larger than the standard size pallets you may want to consider upgrading your turntable size to a 60” round turntable or think about a rotary arm or split base pallet wrapper.

Rotary arm pallet wrappers work well for irregular size pallets because there is no turntable. You just load the pallet on the floor, and the arm wraps around the pallet. Split base pallet wrappers are nice when you still want a turntable option but need extra space around the turntable.