Complete Packaging Solutions & Systems offers ‘German’ made Kallfass industrial shrink wrap machines that are the best in the packaging industry. Our machines are extremely versatile and provide a high level of reliability and speed. A clean and protective packaging is what you want on your product and with a Kallfass machine this will be possible.
How to Choose the Right Industrial Shrink Wrap Machine
There are many different types of shrink wrap machine, and picking the right one for your business can be tricky. If you go with one that’s too large, it can cost you a great deal of money; and too large or too small, the machine might not be able to handle your product. You’ll also need to choose between a manual and an automatic machine. A manual machine can be a very inexpensive way to get up and running, but if you’re doing any kind of volume, they can be problematic.
Manual Machines
Manual machines are simple and straightforward. They generally consist of a roll of material, a heating element and a hot knife all in one — you pull the roll forward, cut it with the knife, wrap the object and use the heating element or heat gun to shrink the material onto your item. In some machines, the sealing bar and hot knife are one and the same; you just wrap the material over and drop the bar to cut and seal.
While your finished package can be done in less than a minute, it does require labor for people to stand at the machine, do the wrapping, hit the finished item with heat guns and repeat. This can create the need for extra workers that you may not have the room in your budget to cover.
Multi-Operation Machines
Multi-operation machines can sometimes be called combo machines or all-in-one machines. These machines are more automated than manual ones and combine several tasks into one. They might, for example, make sealing and shrinking tasks the same thing, or they might keep sealing and shrinking separate but combine them into a single machine — you’ll cut and seal using a heat bar, then slide the package into a tunnel for the final shrink.
Any type of multi-operation machine will save time, and some money, over manual ones. They can wrap hundreds of packages an hour, but they still may require some oversight to keep them running properly.
Fully Automatic Industrial Shrink Wrap Machines
Industrial shrink wrap machines offer the entire process in a fully closed package. All you need to do with these machines is place an item on the conveyor belt and wait for it to run through. The machine handles the wrapping, cutting, sealing and shrinking all on its own with no fuss and no muss. These machines cost the most of all the machines but save you plenty of time and money in the long run, as there’s no need for human oversight except to pick up and load the finished product.
I-Bar vs. L-Bar Machines
Most shrink wrap machines are either I-Bar or L-Bar sealer machines. I-Bar machines make a single cut with a straight heat bar at the end of the machine. The item then has to be turned if more cuts need to be made. After the film is cut, it is then shrunk with the heat gun to wrap it around the item.
The L-Bar machine is generally used for higher-volume operations and is named, as one might guess, because the bar is L-shaped and can make both necessary cuts at once. Both machines make use of a heat gun or heating tunnel to shrink the material around the package.
Piecing Together Your Industrial Shrink Wrap Machine
Finally, you can buy your equipment piecemeal. Instead of a single all-in-one industrial shrink wrap machine, many companies purchase sealers, shrink tunnels and bundlers separately and put their system together as they need. Side Sealers are automatic machines that allow you to wrap elongated products. You will insert the product into the shrink film using a conveyor. The conveyor then moves the product across the sealing bar as the sealing machine begins to seal the shrink wrap at the same time.
Bundlers, on the other hand, use a sealing bar, either an I-Bar or an L-Bar, to cut and seal the film on one or two sides. An automated machine includes multiple sealing bars to seal all sides needed at the same time.
Shrink Tunnels are the next stage of wrapping. They apply the heat to the entire product to tightly secure the wrap around it. Shrink tunnels eliminate the need for heat guns, and they operate on a conveyor system that moves the item through the tunnel. Inside the tunnel, heat will tighten the film around the product in seconds.