Tag Archives: stretch film

Differences in Stretch Film 

There are many kinds of stretch film that offer a variety of uses.  The varieties of this do address some common problems including the size of the load, the weight of this, and the like. There are also stretch films that you can get that are used to protect the UV rays from getting into the product, reduce the static, which is great for electronics, reduce condensation of the product, and the like.

There are two major types of stretch film, the blown stretch film, and there is the cast stretch film.  Here, we’ll talk about these types, and other common ones. 

Blown Stretch Film 

This is one that’s created through blown extrusion and that process utilizes a vertical sort of die that extrudes out the plastic, melting it to create a tube that’s thin. The air then gets blown directly into the center portion of the tube, forming air bubbles with this. 

The amount of this that’s blown does determine the width overall of the film that’s finished.  They constantly rotate the film, so the speed of this and how it gets pulled in an upward manner determines the film’s thickness.

While it travels upwards to the nip rollers at the top, this film starts to cool down. Once that bubble is then collapsed onto a tube that’s flat, they then move this to the next set of rollers, and from there, they then are woven to the core, and for larger ones, one side of this sits to create a large width of stretch film. 

The advantages of this are that you can use this for higher loads and it has a better stretch capacity. It’s also considered better for the load retention that you need. It’s also better in terms of memory, so it’ll stay in a tight manner for a much longer time period. It’s also resistant to tearing, and it’s great for loads that have edges which are sharp. 

This tends to be more expensive though, so the costs of this do tend to be a problem for others. It’s also got a chance that it might not be as clear, due to the crystallization that happens with this.

Cast Stretch Film 

This is made with cast extrusion, and in this process, they utilize a die that’s horizontal, and from there, they melt the plastic, force this through that horizontal die, and from there, it then sits flat, and it comes out in a shape that’s flat.  The size of this does determine how thick it is.

It then goes through some nip rollers that are chilled, and then, the trim is then made in a way that’s a specified type of width, and this is done after they cool this film. The film then gets pushed over the other chilled rollers, and further cooled. Then, at the end of this, is where the film gets placed, and they get packaged into cases so that they can be shipped. 

It’s much cheaper, and it usually costs a lot less. It’s also better for clarity and optics too, since the film gets cooled down faster during cast extrusion, and the crystals are far less here. 

They also have better tear resistance too. The biggest disadvantage is that over time, it doesn’t really hold the shape, so it’s bad for load retention. So if you’re going to be using this for a long period of time, you may want to consider using the blown options, rather than cast, so that it keeps the same integrity that it’s had up to this point too. 

Finding Food Packaging Vendors 

If you’re someone who is looking to package and carry food, you have to look at some different aspects of this to get the most that you can out of this. For some people, contract packaging might be the answer, and usually, they offer an infrastructure that’s specialized to make the correct options for food. You don’t want to choose between different vendors that you discover with google, you should definitely have certain criteria.  What are they though? What’s the ideal criteria for the job? You’re going to find out here. 

What’s the Food you’re Packaging 

First thing is you’ve got to determine the food that you’re packaging. This is pretty obvious, but some foods require you to have different machinery, service, and materials too. For frozen foods for instance, you’ve got some different requirements than powders and liquids. If you have different types of foods and multiple variants, you want to find a vendor that’s able to manage this. 

You want to make sure the food vendor you choose has everything that you’re looking for. 

What Else to Look For? 

You should look through different keywords, such as frozen food, or maybe powdered food. Look as well at different materials that help with this, the machinery, and also some of their resources. 

If you notice that the same company appears when you search for different keywords, that’s something good, because they have the materials that you need.

You also want one that offers the needs that you have. you want to make sure that the company is able to package everything that you need to.

You want to make sure that you have different co-packers too with different abilities, such as cold storage for example. You want to look at their websites, the identity that they have, and any knowledge that’s proper to fix the packaging solutions that are there too, in order to help you make the correct decision.  Don’t be afraid as well to look at the sales team through a LinkedIn search too. 

Find a Couple of Them 

Don’t settle for one and done. Choose between two or three of them, compare the capabilities that they offer, the machinery, the services, and the materials that they offer. 

When you search this, you want to choose one that offers good customer service too, and one with decent reviews. 

What next 

Okay, so you’ve settled on a couple of vendors, and they look reliable. Next, you want to get references. If they can’t provide that, that’s a red flag.  You can also ask for their qualifications and how they can prove to handle this project. 

You want to make sure that it offers the correct certifications as well, and make sure that there are some requirements for capabilities there too, and that they can handle other aspects.  And also see if they’re able to manage the project. Do they have stretch film to make this work? Do they have representatives that can show which vendor is necessary for your needs? 

If this is all there is, you’re definitely on the right path to a good packaging vendor, for it lets you see the vendors that are suited to the needs that you have, and also makes you choose the correct vendor for the job, and one that can help you get the most out of this. 

Finally, make sure that you talk to the customers, as you can see this from the training, testimonials, and the reviews. Ask for references, contact them, that way you can make the correct decision for the right types of aspects that you should focus on.