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Technical report
Wrapping, shrinking or stretching? Comparing packaging technologies
Optimal protection, optimal cost efficiency
For many companies in the chemical, building material or food industries, the efficient
packaging of their palletised goods is a deciding competitive factor. Some of the
crucial factors are transport security, anti-theft protection, display characteristics of
the packaged goods, as well as weatherproofing for outside storage. Further key
factors are process efficiency and cost reduction (energy and material consumption),
as well as the system output (the number of pallets that can be packaged during a
specific amount of time). All of these factors need to be taken into account in order to
determine the perfect packaging technology. Stretch hooding has proven to be
particularly efficient in comparison with other techniques.
Palletising and packaging play a particularly important role, in any industry, for delivering
your goods in optimum condition to your customers. If the required stability is not provided,
goods such as glass, stone or bricks stacked on trucks can detach from the palletised unit
and break. This can cause tremendous costs, depending on the product. Materials such as
cement, flour or cocoa powder need special protection against atmospheric influences and
humidity during transport and storage. To accommodate this, there are different packaging
solutions available to the customer. It is important to find the most economical and
environmentally sustainable solution. There are currently three different palletising packaging
techniques on the market: shrink hooding, stretch wrapping and stretch hooding.
Efficient packaging with shrink film
Film packaging for pallets was developed by a German chemical producer in the mid-1960s,
based on using shrink film. The film is produced as a tube using blow head extruders with
tubular dies, which are then further processed or slit open to become a flat film. Hot air heats
the film during the shrinking process up to the softening point. The film is shrunk to fit
perfectly around the palletised goods, which, after cooling down, creates the necessary
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stability to secure the load. The heat required for the shrinking process is produced by the
packaging system either electrically or with gas. If required, the pallet can be packaged
leaving its base open for the skids of the fork-lift. This allows high-bay storage. It is also
possible to draw the film over the pallet base. The shrinking method is particularly suited for
products that are sensitive to elastic packaging stacking, such as glass. The goods are
reliably protected against environmental impacts such as snow, rain, UV radiation, dust and
insects. However, the shrinking process causes the film to become milky, which makes it
difficult to see the packaged goods or imprinted barcodes. Additional disadvantages:
polyethylene (PE) bags might weld to the packaging film and the heat effect can be a fire
hazard.
Or opt for wrapping instead?
A decade passed before a US-based crude oil refiner and chemical resins supplier
discovered the ingredients for a stretchable film, and the stretch wrapping technique was
born. This packaging technique is still one of the most popular solutions with many
companies, due to the low initial investment costs for the machines compared to shrink or
stretch hood systems. The consumption of stretch wrapping film in Europe alone is estimated
to be 1.4 million metric tons per year. This technique, however, requires a lot of material
which means that the operator has to change the film roll frequently. This makes the
technique suitable for low production rates.
The stretch wrapping film's elasticity allows solidifying the palletised goods during packaging.
This technique, however, only provides little vertical tension force to the load, which is
needed to provide stability for the transportation loads. This technique is not suited for
materials with sharp edges, such as stones or bricks. Another disadvantage: additional
plastic film is required to protect the goods against environmental impacts and humidity. The
PR contact BEUMER Group GmbH & Co. KG
Regina Schnathmann: Tel. + 49 (0) 2521 24 381, [email protected]
Verena Breuer: Tel. + 49 (0) 2521 24 317, [email protected]. www.beumergroup.com
Agency
a1kommunikation Schweizer GmbH, Dr. Matthias Schweizer
Tel. + 49 (0) 711 9454161 0, [email protected]. www.a1kommunikation.de
Reprinting free - copy requested
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film overlay prevents an optimal display of the products and barcodes on the film cannot be
read easily. And because the film is wrapped, you cannot print on it. Additionally, the film
attracts dirt particles due to its adhesion properties and the products collect dust during
longer storage periods. The film also does not offer any protection against theft, as
unauthorised persons can remove goods from the pallet without ripping the film. Another
problem: projecting film remnants, typical with this packaging technique, can disturb the
sensor system of the conveying technology or the rack feeders. This causes repeated error
messages. Due to the many setting parameters, the quantity of the film required for the
packaging cannot be calculated exactly.
High transport security with stretch hoods
The stretch hood technology is a combination of the film hood and stretch wrapping
techniques. BEUMER installed the first stretch hood system in Belgium in 1988. But the
largest breakthrough for this pallet packaging technique only came about 15 years ago. The
availability of improved raw materials allowed the quality of the film to be considerably
increased. Like shrink hooding, the stretch film adapts to any product that is stacked on the
pallet. And similar to wrapping, the film is very elastic and therefore solidifies the material via
contracting forces. This technique guarantees high load stability. The packaging film does
not get glued to the product during the process. It is possible to pack the pallet both for highbay storage systems and with understretch. The smooth film surface ensures high visibility of
the packaged goods, and therefore provides an excellent display of the packed goods at the
Point of Sale because barcode labelling is quickly and consistently recognisable. The used
film is recyclable. Stretch hooding does not use heat, which reduces the fire hazard
considerably, increases operational reliability and therefore minimises insurance rates. Less
film and energy are required, which means less damage to the environment. In the majority
of industrial and consumer product applications, stretch hooding offers the best possible
PR contact BEUMER Group GmbH & Co. KG
Regina Schnathmann: Tel. + 49 (0) 2521 24 381, [email protected]
Verena Breuer: Tel. + 49 (0) 2521 24 317, [email protected]. www.beumergroup.com
Agency
a1kommunikation Schweizer GmbH, Dr. Matthias Schweizer
Tel. + 49 (0) 711 9454161 0, [email protected]. www.a1kommunikation.de
Reprinting free - copy requested
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protection for palletised goods. A sheet placed on the pallet offers additional protection on six
sides against external influences with this packaging solution. It allows for a clean and dry
outdoor storage, as goods are reliably protected against environmental impacts, humidity,
insects and UV rays.
Packaging solutions compared
The BEUMER portfolio includes innovative solutions and systems for all these packaging
techniques. But in order to stay competitive in the long run, companies should not only
consider the total cost of ownership when making investment decisions. A comprehensive
approach is necessary to determine the perfect packaging method. By considering the total
value of ownership (TVO), the efficiency of the operating investments can be specified more
comprehensively and in more detail. This is why BEUMER Group considers economical,
ecological and social aspects when developing their plants and systems. This allows our
customers to plan their investments strategically.
Double your throughput with stretch hooding
Besides load securing, another important factor for most companies when choosing the
perfect packaging method, is the protection against environmental impacts. This is why the
BEUMER experts compared shrink hooding to stretch hooding and found a clear cost
advantage for the stretch method. They took a palletised stack of 1,630 millilitres in height for
test purposes. Systems that use shrink hooding to package palletised items can process 35
to 70 pallets per hour. With this process, the film strength lies between 120 and 180
micrometres. By using the stretch hooding method, throughput is nearly doubled with 100 to
120 pallets per hour. The film that is used is also thinner, only 70 and 140 micrometres. Less
material is required due to the elasticity of the film.
PR contact BEUMER Group GmbH & Co. KG
Regina Schnathmann: Tel. + 49 (0) 2521 24 381, [email protected]
Verena Breuer: Tel. + 49 (0) 2521 24 317, [email protected]. www.beumergroup.com
Agency
a1kommunikation Schweizer GmbH, Dr. Matthias Schweizer
Tel. + 49 (0) 711 9454161 0, [email protected]. www.a1kommunikation.de
Reprinting free - copy requested
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In 2014, the market price for shrink film was at 1.70 EUR per kilogram. The packaging costs
for a film hood were approx. 1.02 EUR. The film costs for 300,000 pallets per year were
approx. 306,000 EUR. The film used for stretch hooding is currently slightly more expensive
with 1.90 EUR per kilogram. To form a film hood, however, you only require materials
totalling 57 cents. This leads to a remarkable cost difference of approx. 159,000 EUR for the
same amount of pallets per year. The customer can achieve cost savings of approx. 52
percent.
The systems also differ in regards to their energy demands. The gas consumption for shrink
hooding is at approx. two kilowatt hours per pallet. The energy required to form a stretch
hood costs six cents. For the calculated 300,000 pallets per year, the total cost is 18,000
EUR. Due to the fact that the stretch hood system works without gas and the costs for
energy consumption are almost identical for both techniques, the user can save those costs
by implementing the stretch hood method.
The maintenance costs for shrink hooding can vary, especially for older machines, between
2,000 and 8,000 EUR per year. We used 4,000 EUR as the basis for our calculation. The
calculated average costs for the stretch hooding method are between 1,000 and 3,000 EUR
per year. Assuming an average value of 2,000 EUR, the user saves 2,000 EUR per year in
maintenance costs. This means significantly lower costs per year when using the stretch
hooding technique.
The BEUMER stretch hood® A is the result of the intralogistics specialist from Beckum
redesigning its tried-and-trusted packaging system from scratch. During its development, our
specialists analysed various components and optimised them in terms of function,
arrangement and ergonomics. This includes an intuitive menu system on the machine control
PR contact BEUMER Group GmbH & Co. KG
Regina Schnathmann: Tel. + 49 (0) 2521 24 381, [email protected]
Verena Breuer: Tel. + 49 (0) 2521 24 317, [email protected]. www.beumergroup.com
Agency
a1kommunikation Schweizer GmbH, Dr. Matthias Schweizer
Tel. + 49 (0) 711 9454161 0, [email protected]. www.a1kommunikation.de
Reprinting free - copy requested
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via a soft-touch panel, an optimised, ergonomically designed workplace for the operator and
material-friendly transporting of the film in the machine thanks to an innovative film transport
system. The new system also features improved system performance and requires far less
floor space.
Tailored solutions
Each product has its own handling characteristics, which require a careful analysis by the
user. This analysis is necessary to determine the pallet packaging requirements. BEUMER
provides the operator with an online configurator to calculate and evaluate the economic
efficiency of different packaging techniques, as well as the added value for their company. In
addition, BEUMER experts will create a presentation that is individually tailored to the
customer's requirements. The customer gets a reliable comparison between the different
packaging methods, the individual energy consumption, as well as the maintenance,
investment and system costs.
10.884 characters (incl. spaces)
Captions:
Picture 1: To reduce the damages caused during transport and to satisfy the increased
logistic requirements, many companies opt for stretch hooding.
PR contact BEUMER Group GmbH & Co. KG
Regina Schnathmann: Tel. + 49 (0) 2521 24 381, [email protected]
Verena Breuer: Tel. + 49 (0) 2521 24 317, [email protected]. www.beumergroup.com
Agency
a1kommunikation Schweizer GmbH, Dr. Matthias Schweizer
Tel. + 49 (0) 711 9454161 0, [email protected]. www.a1kommunikation.de
Reprinting free - copy requested
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Picture 2: Stretch hooding enables a reliable protection for palletised load units. It includes
water-tight pallet packaging on five sides.
Picture 3: From left to right: Shrink wrapping, stretch wrapping and stretch hooding at a
glance
Photos: BEUMER Group GmbH & Co. KG
BEUMER Group is an international manufacturing leader in intralogistics in the fields of
conveying, loading, palletising, packaging, sortation and distribution technology. Together
with Crisplant a/s and Enexco Teknologies India Limited, BEUMER Group employed some
4,000 people in 2014. The group generated an annual turnover of approximately 680 million
euros. With its subsidiaries and sales agencies, BEUMER Group is present in many
industries worldwide. For more information visit www.beumergroup.com.
PR contact BEUMER Group GmbH & Co. KG
Regina Schnathmann: Tel. + 49 (0) 2521 24 381, [email protected]
Verena Breuer: Tel. + 49 (0) 2521 24 317, [email protected]. www.beumergroup.com
Agency
a1kommunikation Schweizer GmbH, Dr. Matthias Schweizer
Tel. + 49 (0) 711 9454161 0, [email protected]. www.a1kommunikation.de
Reprinting free - copy requested
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