Cost-saving shrink wrappers taps into retail-ready trend – developer

31-Jan-2012 - Last updated on 31-Jan-2012 at 13:39 GMT

Related tags Wrapper

The Arpac 708 shrink wrapper can accept two inputs from seperate tray packers

A series of shrink wrapping developments, designed to complement a variety of tray packing machines, will provide the food and drink industry with cost-effective retail-ready packaging, its developer has claimed.

Arpac aims to ensure that its shrink wrappers complement a wide range of tray packing machines – including its own and those of its original equipment manufacturer (OEM) partners.

The Arpac 708 shrink wrapper, one of the company’s recent developments, can accept two inputs from two separate tray packers – saving the space and cost of a second shrink wrapper.

According to the company, this technology will encourage customers to assess whether a combination of tray packaging machinery and shrink wrap might be a more cost-effective solution.

Retail ready packaging

“There is a lot of pressure from food and drink manufacturers for technology to provide retail ready packaging,” Arpac Europe marketing and PR manager Gill Sunderland told FoodProductionDaily.com.

“Through these developments, customers can make minor modifications and implement the wrapper to produce retail ready packaged food without having to replace machinery.”

“Fundamentally it means customers don’t have to replace their production line.”

The inter-connect controls of Arpac’s machines with others mean that customers can choose to run tray packing machinery and the shrink wrapper separately or as one system, the company added.

“The result is all the flexibility of a modular system with the productivity of combined system that produces shelf-ready packs using a mix of corrugated and shrink thereby delivering low production and low packaging costs,” the company said in a statement.

Development programme

Arpac’s development programme was aimed at combining its shrink-wrapping technology with a “wide variety” of automatic tray packing machines, with the aim of providing a cost-effective shelf-ready pack.

Implementation of this technology can boost shelf utilisation efficiency and strong transit performance, according to the company.

“Customers kept telling us about the pressure they are under to produce different packaging styles to create competitive advantage or new shelf-appeal, as well as cut costs and operate ever more complex machinery with untrained or temporary staff,” said Arpac Europe general manager Tony Hacker.

“So we decided we needed to come up with systems and machine combinations that would help them deal with these new demands,” he added.