“As consumer products companies have reduced their primary and secondary packaging in pursuit of cost savings and in support of sustainability, the importance of stretch wrapping products correctly and consistently is more critical than ever,” highlights Wes Carter, President, Atlantic Packaging. “Studies by the Grocery Manufacturers Association show that USD 7.2 billion is lost annually in the US food and beverage industry due to shipping damage. Improper stretch wrapping is the leading cause of load failures, resulting in damaged products, increased safety risks, and inflated stretch wrapping costs. Like every other manufacturing process, companies need to set the correct standard on each and every stretch system in every facility and then have systems in place to hold the correct standard on every load that they ship to ensure products arrive at their customers’ facilities safely and without damage,” he recommends.

Atlantic Corporation, a comprehensive packaging resource with expertise in stretch wrap optimization, is a solution provider at the marcus evans AmericaPack Summit 2017, taking place in Los Angeles, February 16-17.

How do most manufacturers fail to ensure their products reach consumers safely? 

Most large consumer product companies have multiple manufacturing facilities across a wide geography. Their stretch wrapping equipment often varies in age, condition, and type across these facilities leaving room for high levels of inconsistency and a lack of standards for what works best.

Stretch film is a unique product, in that it must be manipulated to very high levels in order to gain optimal performance. In many cases, film must be stretched as much 400 percent to be effective at protecting unitized loads. If the film is under-stretched, there can be a significant amount of stretch capacity still available in the film. This allows for further, unpredictable stretching during shipping, leading to load shifting and damage.

It is nearly impossible to look at film on a wrapped load and know whether it has been stretched and applied properly. Atlantic’s MUST Method uses advanced load testing to give companies the tools to optimize their loads, from proper equipment settings to film formulations, to determining benchmark standards and monitoring every single load that leaves their facility.

How do you determine the optimal level of stretching?

First, we performance test all the films that are available in the marketplace and build a performance profile of each film. We have a polymer chemist heading up our film lab who has over 40 years of experience developing stretch films and stretch film resin. He and his team map the performance characteristics of these films including how they perform at different stretch percentages, containment force levels, puncture resistance and abrasion characteristics.

Then we apply components of the MUST Method, an end-to-end system. We begin with a full audit of existing conditions including equipment, film, and process. We also talk with equipment operators and key decision makers to understand each customer’s goals and priorities. Then we test to determine benchmark standards that will best protect loads during shipping.

Atlantic has made significant investments in our testing technology. We offer the packaging industry’s most technical load testing equipment at our Solutions Center in Charlotte, NC. Using data recorders, a multi-axis shipping simulator, and an acceleration impact sled, we test for a variety of real-world transportation hazards. With the data recorded from this equipment, we refine packaging until we are able to create the optimal stretch wrapping standards for each customer’s product.

Once these solutions are implemented at the plant level, we ensure these results stay locked in for the long-term by installing our patented MUST monitoring system. 

What cost implication does this have?

Utilizing Atlantic’s MUST Method typically reduces overall spend on stretch film by 20-40 percent while reducing damage to virtually zero.

What helps make a product stand out from the competition and elevates the customer experience?

Consumer products manufacturers take great pride in their brand identity and the quality of their products. Safe delivery from the manufacturing facility to the retailer is critical in getting this quality across to the consumer. Damage is not only costly in terms of the products lost; it also disrupts production when reworking the order is necessary and also affects the brand perception.

We believe all damage is predictable and preventable. If our MUST Method is adopted across a manufacturer’s plant network, we can ensure safe transit and controlled costs.

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