In today’s market, you can find such a wide variety of packaging types that it’s easy to get lost. Each one has its own characteristics that must be adapted to those of your company, the products it works with, and even the rest of the machinery that makes up the production process. Therefore, there are several details that you should know, starting with really understanding what strapping is and going through how you can do it correctly or what type of machine is best for you.
What is strapping?
Without a doubt, we must start by clarifying what strapping is before defining and analyzing the rest of the concepts.
As its name suggests, strapping is a process that consists of placing a strap around one or more packages. This strap is a tape, generally manufactured based on polymeric materials, which to the eyes of inexperienced individuals may seem like a simple element, but it must meet technical specifications and have very special mechanical qualities, such as tensile strength, other external agents, or the ability to weld together.
On the other hand, one can also distinguish between types of strapping or strapping forms. That is, it can be strapped manually with hand tools – with which an operator must do the tasks of placing the strap around the load, inserting the ends into the cavities of the machine, and activating the process – with semi-automatic machines. —Which only need the packages to be strapped to be placed in the area set up for it— and with the automatic ones —which have all the necessary systems so that no operator intervention is needed—. In any case, the three ways are considered as strapping, since the purpose is similar, although the level of automation varies.
What is the strapping process for?
Once we have defined what strapping is, even taking into account the different variants that there are, we can talk about the benefits that placing these tapes around the loads will bring to your company.
The first of these, and the reason why more clients decide to include strapping at the end of their production processes, is the efficiency achieved by being able to transport loads in a grouped manner. In fact, it is useful both for long-distance transport, and to carry loads from the production chain to the warehouse itself.
And speaking of transport, atOMS we have automatic strapping machines prepared to strap loads directly next to the pallets that you will use for these cargo movements. Therefore, you will be multiplying the efficiency in a single step.
On the other hand, something that perhaps is not usually taken into account is that it helps to protect those products protect those products that are already ready to be shipped, especially in department stores where a detachment or a fall can be critical. By having the packages grouped together, that risk is greatly reduced. In addition, you will not only be protecting products prone to falling, of course, but also the operators who work there.
The importance of strapping in the production process
Knowing those benefits that a strapping system provides in the company, we are going to place special emphasis on how this affects the production process. Because it is so, the effects that strapping will cause will go far beyond the warehouse.
The so-called “bottlenecks” are the weak points of any global process that slow down the rest. It is a term that is used in several aspects, but in the case that concerns us here it will refer to that if your production process is capable of manufacturing a very high flow of products automatically, but then the storage process cannot continue that pace, everything will be slowing down due to a single weak point. So by solving that problem – for example, with an efficient strapping process – you will be able to streamline all production.
Regarding occupational safety, on the one hand, your warehouse will have less risk of material falling onto warehouse operators. And on the other, routine transportation tasks that lead to popular burn out are also reduced. In this way, you will be promoting active safety in the company.
How to strap correctly?
Here comes what for many is the crux of the matter. “Let’s suppose strapping is going to bring enormous benefit to my company and I am going to notice an incredible difference, but how can I be done to notice these changes? ”.
As you can imagine, this will depend on several factors and each company is different. Therefore, you should not look for a global answer that solves the problems of all companies, but you should do the analysis applied to yours and thus discover the best alternative.
Previous study
First, you must start from the current characteristics of your company and its products: economic resources, available space, types of products, number and qualification of employees, production flow, and general systems implemented in the rest of the production process. In general terms, this will help you understand what you need and which system will give you the best profitability (simplifying the matter).
And secondly, you will have to make some future forecasts for all that. Will you continue working with the same products? Will new business opportunities arise? Is the company experiencing any growth or decline that will require systems to change?
For example, it would not make sense to buy a semi-automatic strapping machine because the current flow of loads to be packed is low if the company’s strategy area is anticipating exponential growth during the following months.
Automation levels
Once this study is prepared, a decision must be made on what level of automation the system will need and how it could be incorporated at the end of the production process. Thus, you will finally be able to browse our strapping machine page to choose the one that has the characteristics that best suit you.
Note that we have simplified the matter a lot here since it is a process that could take weeks. The most important thing is that you are clear that to strap correctly, you will need the right machines.
Manual strapping the right way
If your company is small and the operators are going to perform manual strapping tasks, make sure they receive the necessary training and that the relevant safety measures are always followed. Everything related to this will be specified in the technical manuals of the machinery.
Now that you know what strapping is and how to do it correctly, it’s time to choose the new equipment for the company.
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Author Bio
Vikas Rastogi holds the position of managing partner at VK Brothersmanaging partner at VK Brothers. Keeping up with the current trends in marketing, he thinks about the marketing of ideas in the digital age. His interest and creative approach to marketing bring him to the industry.
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