Strategic objectives: One question …. and many answers!!!

The current general economic situation pushes companies to look for increasingly innovative solutions that can best compete in the market; investments, programming, designs and sales forecasts must however respond to a demand as old as the world….

What will be the final cost?

Yes, let’s start from the bottom of the chain and referring to the final product, considering that normally common but ubiquitous plastic tape is used, let’s ask ourselves the question: “how much does it cost to seal the packaging?”.

The first consideration we can afford to make is the following: would you save money, speed up the process, improve packaging safety and be completely green in the disposal of your packaging in a single solution, simply by using water-activated tape?

The disarming reflection that we are discussing is related to the fact that weare not proposed new technologies, but simple evolutions and improvements of what fortunately we already know …. we are talking about the gummed paper tapes / Water Activated Tape that have been around since Thomas Edison was credited with inventing them at the beginning of the last century.

An important factor in the rediscovery of water-activated tapes is their excellent green credentials; they are made of kraft paper (or even recycled paper) coated with natural adhesive, responsibly sourced from sustainable materials, are easily recycled without having to be separated from the cartons and leave noresidues that pollute or cause damage to the recycling plant.

To the above must also be added the fact that they are also extremely resistant, in fact maintaining rigidity and sealing of the packaging much longer than the plastic tape, they give extreme security in protecting the contents from damage during transport and, considering that in practice they are welded to the layers of the packaging, discourage tampering attempts and theft.

From words to deeds… A key factor, particularly for users with large wrapping volumes,  is that water-activated tape is cheaper than plastic!!!  Normally this statement could be disputed if we consider the simple price per meter, but some practical evaluations combined with operational feedback lead to the confirmation of the above.

For example, water-activated tape has such a strong grip that a strip of tape is all the packaging needs to securely close the carton flaps while, generally, operators routinely apply several overlapping strips of plastic tape to make sure the seal holds, particularly if the box has been pre-used or made of poor quality cardboard.

The actual amount of plastic tape used to close a package is basically doubled, tripled or even quadrupled with a consequent immediate increase in the time required to apply the sealant (recent reports find that, on average, operators use 40% more plastic tape than using gummed paper tape to seal a shipping carton)  ….. translated into “money”, this operation increases production costs immediately  and indisputably.

The “safety of closure” of the rubberized tape also guarantees the immediate reduction of “hidden” costs that are reserved for  damaged or lost packaging in the budget, not to mention the damage to the  image of the Company when a package is delivered to the Customer deteriorated in appearance or content.

If then to the above is added the possibility of considering that the water-activated belt can be available with different types of construction (normal, reinforced or reinforced or with rhomboid weft) and that in some cases avoids the use of the strap, here the costs are sure benefit with great advantage for the safety of closing, the possibility of disposing of the entire packaging in a single solution without counting the extremely “clean and professional” image of the final result.

For completeness of information, it should be noted that this cost saving does not depend entirely on the tape itself.

The best performance is obtained by using manual or electronic table dispensers that can be used in any packaging operating space. Thanks to the possibility of dispensing the belt in pre-programmed lengths, the production process is further accelerated, preventing waste due to too long or too short belt and avoiding the need for additional strips.

In addition, a plastic tape gun requires handling the packaging in different positions to ensure that the operator can obtain the correct angle for the application of the tape strip; With table dispensers and gummed paper tape, the tape can be applied with the packaging in any position.

Last but not least, and certainly not to be underestimated in the field of operator safety, the history and practical findings found by evaluating different shipping centers, indicate the use of manual guns to seal packages as one of there a reason for traumatic injuries related to “carpal tunnel syndrome”.

In particular, in environments with a high volume of shipments, these portable tape guns can cause a lot of wear on the hand, wrist and elbows causing the abuse of a particular muscle or group of muscles; This causes injuries and injuries that often find solution only with surgery and subsequent long hospitalizations.

Independent tests have shown that the use of table dispensers using gummed paper  tape increases productivity by 21% compared to pressure-sensitive plastic tape.

If productivity, material savings, safety, packaging guarantee and eco-sustainability with the possibility of disposal in a single solution are topics that interest your company, contact us, we will be happy to talk to you about our operational experiences and how to improve the current end-of-line procedures.

info@evi-italia.com