Shrink Wrap Machine
A shrink wrap machine provides you a great way to not only protect your products, but also to group certain items together.
Let me give you an example. I recently purchased a home study course and it was divided into four weeks. Each week included a manual, DVD, and CD. To make it extremely simple to keep everything organized, each week was shrink wrapped together so you didn’t have to assemble the materials each week.
To introduce you to the world of shrink wrappers, I found this three part video series that I think does a realy good job showing the different capabilities and your options.
There are six main types of shrink wrap machines: straight bar, l-bar, mail bagging systems, continuous band sealers, sleeve wrappers, and vacuum sealers.
Straight Bar (aka I-Bar) - This type of sealer is best if you’re dealing with small volume and is well suited to items like DVDs and CDs.
L-Bar -- These machines use a Polyolefin film and electricity (not heat) to cut and seal the film at the same time. There is a large range of models available ranking from the small AIE-1313L, priced at $550 to the a large, high volume, Shanklin CF3 that will run $25,000 used.
Mail Bagging Systems - These systems are designed to package… well, a lot of stuff. They can wrap newspaper or catalogs; boxes, gadets, games,wallets even traffic signals. The Mail Bag Digit Mail Bagging system can wrap 20 units per minute and will run $6,662.00 while the Continua Automatic Mail Bagging System can wrap 50 units per minute (16.5 x 11.5 x .5) and runs $33,268.00
Continuous Band Sealers - These machines are well suited for easily spilled items. They’ve been called “the most efficient, versatile semi-automatic sealing equipment machines available for a wide range of applications in the market place today.” A GBS-1100 Band Sealer will run you $3196.00 brand new.
Sleeve Wrappers -- These devices are well suited to many different package shapes, as individual packs or collations. A Rochman SVS 60/35 Semi Automatic Sleeve Wrapper System will run you $19,809.
Vacuum Sealers -- These come in two different types -- external and chamber vacuum sealers. Prices range from $955 for a Minipack Mini 2010 Vacuum Sealer to $14,018 for a MVS 250 Double Chamber Sealer.
The film can be shrunk using a handheld heat gun or if you’re doing high volume, using a heat tunnel and conveyor belt.
Where To Buy
- Uline
- Office Zone
- ABC Office
- Amazon
- Binding.com
- Polypack
- Factory Express
- eBay (great for used equipment)
