Throwback Thursday - #TBT - To The First Stretch Wrapper ...

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In the 1970s, two brothers named Pat and Bill Lancaster set out to solve a problem. Shipping products meant either loading hundreds of single boxes onto a truck one at a time, or using metal straps or shrink bags to unitize loads. All three options took a lot of time and energy. Loading boxes one at a time was hard work and strapping or shrink bags were expensive. How could they make the process of unitizing better?

The Lancaster brothers would introduce the first stretch wrapper at the 1973 Packaging Machinery Manufacturer’s trade show. They developed a way to unitize pallet loads by wrapping them with layers of plastic film. This was faster and cheaper than other methods.

Four decades later, the stretch wrapper has become the dominant form of pallet unitization. This has saved companies billions of dollars every year by increasing productivity and reducing shipping damage.

The story isn’t over, however. This is just the end of the beginning.

The Challenge Ahead

The stretch wrapping quality – how well the pallet load is stretch wrapped – of the vast majority of pallet loads being shipped today is not as good as it should be or could be.

This results in too many products reaching their destinations in unsalable condition – damaging our environment, as too many of them wind up in landfills. It also creates an estimated $60 billion of waste each year in just the consumer products goods, food, and beverage industries alone.

We believe as much as half those unsalable products can be saved just by stretch wrapping better.

The techniques for effective stretch wrapping are well established and disarmingly simple in theory but they can be complicated or difficult to implement in the complex environments of today’s factories and warehouses.

What’s Next?

Our goal is to put a big dent the billions of dollars of waste caused by unsalable products by making it easier for our customers to stretch wrap effectively.

We’re working hard on developing technology and machines to do just that.

To learn more, visit Lantech.com or if you’re going to Pack Expo, come see us at Booth N-5106.

Learn more about stretch wrappers in these posts:

This post was published on November 3, 2016 and updated on January 28, 2019.

Stretch wrappers have come a long way. Read this article to make sure you’re taking advantage of their advancements.

Are you interested in learning more about Stretch Film Wrapping Machine Factory? Contact us today to secure an expert consultation!

Perhaps no one has been impacted quite as dramatically by watching a baling machine wrap plastic around hay as Tom Brizek was, one day in 2008.

Observing how the machine spread plastic 360 degrees around the bales sparked an idea — with his metal fabrication company quickly growing, Brizek wondered if he could apply a similar all-around wrapping technology to streamline his own packing process.

It didn’t take long for Brizek and his business, TAB Industries, to turn that idea into an innovation. In 2009, TAB put the first Wrapper Tornado to use at its fabrication facility.

By dispensing stretch wrap from a circular ring rotating around a horizontal axis, TAB’s Tornado orbital wrapper envelops 360 degrees, around and under a pallet of products.

The wrapper secures the pallet, allowing for safe storage and transport without the need for boxes, banding, strapping, or overpacking, according to TAB.

The product soon became the envy of TAB’s customers, so Brizek decided to make it available to all, establishing the Wrapper Tornado division of TAB Industries in 2011 to build and distribute the machine.

A decade later, TAB’s invention was officially recognized by the U.S. government. In June 2021, TAB was granted a patent for the Wrapper Tornado line of orbital wrappers.

The patent credits the invention to Brizek, TAB president and CEO, along with his son, Andrew Brizek, vice president of sales and marketing.

The patent notes that by applying compression and lateral forces to the pallet load, the wrapper solves a key shortcoming of turntable wrappers, preventing loads from sliding off the pallet and adding protection from damage in transit.

In a brochure on the company’s website, TAB notes that the wrapper reduced instances of products being damaged and rendered defective, meaning fewer rejected orders.

TAB also says its product eliminates the old manual wrapping process, where workers would risk injury by wrapping the pallets by hand.

The company claims its Wrapper Tornado line reduces wrapping times from two to three minutes, to about 60 seconds, and can save companies more than $25,000 in annual labor costs.

The wrapper comes in a variety of sizes and is offered with semi-automated controls, in addition to a fully automated option that can be customized with optional accessories.

TAB is seeing high demand for the wrappers in the US and Canada, although the product has been sold internationally, company representatives said.

The company was founded in 2005 and operates a 44,000-square-foot facility in Reading.

TAB still offers its original metal fabrication, laser cutting, welding, and related metalworking services, in addition to the Wrapper Tornado line.

Its clients include growing small businesses, as well as globally recognized companies like Target, Walgreens, Volvo, and Mack Truck, according to TAB’s website.

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