Nano Arctic: Your Cold Chain Wrapping Solution

nano arctic cold chain wrapping

Cold chain wrapping with machine film can be quite challenging for meat, ice cream, seafood, frozen food, pharmaceutical, or any cold room logistics business. 

The typical cold chain temperature may range from 2°C to 8°C (36°F to 46°F) to ensure maximum freshness. 

For instance, transportation of fruits, vegetables, medicines, food items, and many other environmentally sensitive products.

Some products have specific temperature tolerances depending on their specifications, sensitivity, and type of logistics used. 

For instance, vaccines, namely Ebola and Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines, require  –70ºC (–94ºF) cold chain.

Here are three condition checklists when considering cold chain packaging: 

  • Product – Each product has specific physical qualities requiring particular temperature and humidity conditions related to its perishability and fragility. What type of cold chain packaging services would be suitable for your products? If not handled well, you may lose the commercial value of your goods in part or whole.
  • Source/Destination – Where are the products being produced and consumed? Is it under local conditions or global delivery? Do you need distance sourcing strategies to maintain the quality of goods? 
  • Distribution – Are you using the right temperature-controlled trucks, containers, and warehousing facilities to handle your packages? 

Protecting Temperature-Sensitive Goods 

When dealing with conditional sensitive goods, we know that slight shifts in temperature conditions during transits make a difference to your business. 

Changes cause damage and deterioration that will ultimately affect your bottom line.

It is crucial to preserve the integrity and extend the life of products throughout their journey to ensure happy customers.

The best-fit cold chain wrap helps maintain a stable and consistent temperature from manufacturing to the destination of delivery.

The Problem with Conventional Machine Stretch Film for Cold Environments 

Conventional machine stretch film loses its load-holding force and clinginess when in a cold room environment. 

It clings when it’s warm, but when put into temperature variation situations, it loses its cling. 

Stretch film meant for safeguarding and protection becomes loose and will eventually fall off, defeating the wrap’s purpose. 

Since conventional stretch films cling properties are not as good in cold room environments, it often leaves “a tail” when the end of wrapping falls off. 

This can be unsightly and hazardous for employees.  

You certainly do not want mishaps of trips or messy tangling between the wheel of pallet jacks and forklifts during the storage process, which causes unintended additional costs, which affects your bottom line too. 

Cold Chain Wrapping Solution

To withstand freezing and conditioned cold environments, you would need to use specially manufactured films to maintain excellent load holding and cling force. 

Freezer film like Thong Guan’s Nano Arctic is designed with extra cling properties, enabling the film to be used in freezing temperatures to secure your sensitive temperature goods on any piece of equipment. 

It assures that your products’ quality is protected and preserved just as promised to your end customers. 

At the same time, you reduce possible losses due to temperature-based damages too. 

Even when freezing, refrigerated, or in controlled room environments, Nano Arctic film will stick to each other, especially at the end of the film or wrapping cycle, leaving no tail. 

No more worries about film causing unnecessary mess or trouble during storing and in-transit. 

Construction companies, modeling, landscaping, and other packaging industries could benefit from using Nano Arctic due to its shielding and aggressive cling properties. 

It also protects your load containment so that you will never have any mishaps during transits.

The Nano Arctic cold chain wrapping film is made with high clarity with clear visibility that anyone can inspect the goods or scan the barcodes inside. Moreover, it is advantageous for your brand to be visible for branding purposes too. 

In the end, it is all about ensuring that consumers get fresh products delivered according to the standards. 

Benefits and Features Summary:

  • Exceptional forceful cling packaging
  • Tough with no film breaks. Remarkable puncture resistance
  • Firm holdings when wiping down at any given condition 
  • High visibility = Scan barcodes easily
  • Outstanding load containment
  • Will run on any piece of equipment

We Can Help With Your Cold Chain Wrapping Needs

It does not matter if your cold wrapping needs are for ultra-low temperature refrigerants, phase change materials, or insulated shipping containers. 

Perishable temperature-sensitive goods are highly delicate items that need special packaging care to keep happy customers. 

Thong Guan can help you enable machine film to be used in cold room environments or extremely cold weather conditions. 

We help optimize your wrapping by selecting the best-fit film using data technology at the most optimum wrapping based on your needs. 

Let’s connect and get you on track towards choosing the right stretch film for your machines today. 

Contact us at info@thongguan.com for more info or to enquire more today.

European Green Deal: the Future of Plastic Packaging Regulation in European Union

bottling factory recycling factory

According to the New European Green Deal, all plastic packaging consumed in the European Union must be recyclable by 2030. According to IndexBox’s estimation, the EU plastic packaging market totals $31billion.

This huge figure will force manufacturers to switch to making plastic packaging suitable for subsequent recycling and multiple reuses.

Meanwhile, in the future, we expect the production of non-recyclable types of packaging to decrease while stricter waste controls could push the plastic packaging market to transform supply chains. 

 

How We Got Here

In 2010, the EU plastic packaging market grew by 2.6% against 2009, expanding slightly to $25.4billion.

This figure reflects the total revenues of manufacturers and importers minus retail marketing costs, logistics costs, and retailers’ margins, which will be included in the final consumer price.

In comparison with the prominent rate of growth recorded in 2008 when the market increased by 6.6%, the growth record between 2009 and 2010 was a mild downturn. 

 

In value terms, $25.9billion plastic packaging production was recorded in 2010 estimated at export prices. Over that period under review, the rate of production remained at a lower figure. 

Fast forward to the next decade, the average annual production of plastic packaging, though increased over the decade, further decreased due to the covid-19 pandemic.

According to the latest statistics from Eurostat, the dynamics of plastic packaging production in 2020 was approximately equal to the volume of 2019.  

 

As we speak, the EU plastic packaging market totals $31billion. In 2010, the countries with the largest plastic packaging markets in the European Union were Germany (1.3million tonnes), Italy (1.3million tonnes), and France (1.1million tonnes).

Altogether, they accounted for 52% of the total market. These countries were followed by Spain, Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Austria, Lithuania, Portugal, Sweden, and Hungary, which together accounted for further 39%.

From 2007 to 2010, Poland recorded the most notable rate of growth in terms of plastic packaging production, amongst the main producing countries while others experienced modest paces of growth. 

 

In 2021, the highest plastic packaging production in the EU includes Germany ($4.8billion), France ($4.7billion), and the United Kingdom ($4.2billion). Altogether, they account for 44% of the total production.

Other EU countries like Spain, Italy, Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Greece, and Romania followed suit, which together accounted for a further 46%.

 

Why European Green Deal Regulation?

In recent years, the demand for bulk plastic packaging has increased especially during the pandemic. Hand sanitizers were sold enormously and guess what the bottles are made of – plastics.

Since they are easy to wash and disinfect, the continued popularity was inevitably leveraged by retail packaging. The rise in demand for retail packaging came also a result of the limitations in the HoReCa segment which have led to changes in sales channels.

The pandemic raised an alarm for people to pay attention to hygiene and safety. As a result, people were more conscious of their health as usual. 

During the period of isolation, most restaurants, cafés, shops, and offices began to subscribe to home delivery services that involve the consumption of plastics.

The rise in contactless shopping further led to an increase in the consumption of plastic packaging like plastic bags, stretch films, and containers.

Since consumers are mostly cooking at home, plastic packaging manufacturers saw an opportunity to extend their range of containers to suit different eating and cooking scenarios.

We began to see diverse ranges of plastics in different shapes, dimensions, and sizes, to meet the demand of the market.

The problem this caused was the large amount of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere during the process of recycling plastic packaging. As a result, the European Green Deal was born. 

The European Green Deal aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030.

To achieve this, European plastic packaging manufacturers will be forced to use carbon capture technologies in their plants, or research other ways to reduce carbon footprint, and this could lead to higher costs of recyclable plastic packaging.

The Bottom Line

Since plastic containers are incredibly low-cost to produce, lightweight, and easy to wash and disinfect, the need for home food delivery will continue and retail packaging will continue to be relevant.

Therefore, taking into account the development of plastic recycling, we will not expect any radical abandonment of plastic packaging.

Plastic packaging manufacturers had better get prepared to face the New Green Regulation. 

Stretch Wrapping Machine: Pair Your Film To The Right One

machine stretch film

Stretch wrapping machine films is a significant investment for manufactures, distributors, and logistics firms. The right machine film fulfills packaging promises and retains loyal customers too. 

A new research study by Persistence Market Research reports that the consumption of stretch wrap machines will be at 231,810 units by the end of 2026. They also projected the revenue from the purchases of stretch wrap machines to touch US$ 1,356.0 mil by 2026, showing a strong growth rate of 7.5% during the eight years from 2018 to 2026.

Mechanical stretch film wrap applications work best when working with mass load packages that need to be optimally wrapped so that you can deliver what you promise your customers.

However, one of the most significant issues is deciding which type of stretch film for machines to use to keep your goods safe. These considerations include cost, ease of use, durability, and transparency. You must give each of these factors the same amount of importance. 

Stretch film wrappers work with loads according to:

  • How much is the weight of the load?
  • Pre-stretch % on wrapping machines.
  • Number of pallets wrapped per hour
  • The size and type of the load
  • Are there any special requirements needed?
  • How is the pallet being transported to?

But what are the considerations when choosing stretch films for machines? 

While the purchasing department continues to opt for cheaper films due to costs, productions jump on snap films and downtimes. 

So regardless of what wrapper is being used, choosing the right film for your machine matters.

Here’s our take on how the films and wrapping machines correlate to your wrapping goals, how to select the right machine films.

Wrapping Machine with Thong Guan High Performance Stretch Film

Stretch Wrapping Machine Film

Smart technology and high-speed production processes drive automation to the next levels in the global packaging industry. 

Through evolutionary patterns, mechanical stretch film wrap minimizes the quantity of material used to protect loaded pallets from unwanted losses. 

The result of utilizing mechanical wrap benefits you in

  • Reduced Labor and Material Cost
  • More significant film stretch ranging from 200%-300% 400%
  • Better containment and lower Cost Per Load
  • Quicker Wrap Times – Lower Load Failure
  • Better operational productivity
  • Improved Load Integrity
  • Consistent Load Quality
  • Minimal to no employee fatigue 

Using Machines To Optimize Your Wraps 

Different machines work with different loads. There are three types of loads when dealing with pallet wrapping which are:

stretch wrapping machine

  • A Load – Stable, straight sides with up to 3” protrusions.
  • B Load – Relatively stable with protrusions of up to 6” inches or less
  • C Load – Oddly shaped with several protrusions (including sharp corners) of over 6”. Unstable. 

Here’s how these machines work with your wrapping needs

Turntable Wrapper 

The most simple form to wrap is to place the pallet on a turntable that rotates while a pallet stretch film is delivered around the load.

Turntables have the smallest footprint and overall machine height. It is capable of 10– 20 loads per hour and ideal for A and B load types. This system starts wraps at the bottom of the load and wraps its way to the top and to the bottom again.

With the speed of 16 rpm p/minute it takes 5 mins (including change over time) to wrap a pallet. That’s approximately about 12 pallets per hour. 

Turntable wrappers are very effective in many types of works, and they are used for a broad variety of applications

Rotary Arm Wrapper 

Arm wrapper machines operate by placing loads under a rotating arm. The load remains secured and stationary while stretch film is revolved to wrap around the load.

These machines are great for unstable, wobbly, light pallets and heavy loads that tend to be unstable while rotating on a turntable.

Suitable for all A, B, and C types of heavy and oversized loads. They are used for high-speed applications from 40 loads per hour. 

Ring Wrapper 

Ring wrapper machines are great for unstable loads as well. 

Best used for PET drinks, 25kgs resin bags, brewery, and products required high throughput yield.

When wrapping, the load remains stationary while the wrapping is done via rotating around the pallet not by an arm, but through a large ring.

These machines can wrap at a very high-speed ranging application of 60 to 80 loads per hour. 

Here is a summary of good types and what type of stretch film fits best

  • Light loads – loads that are light in weight, such as tissue paper and empty bottles
    • Machine wrappers: arm machine or ring machine wrappers 
    • Type of film that works best: Thin-film from 12 to 15-micron 
  • Medium – loads that are of medium heaviness like handling of cartons 
    • Machine wrappers: Turntable machine, arm wrappers, and ring wrappers 
    • Type of film that works best: stretch film from 12 to 17-micron 
  • Heaviest – heavy load handling like PET drinks, resin bags (25kgs), or 200-liter drums 
    • Machine wrappers: Turntable machine, arm wrappers, and ring wrappers 
    • Type of film that works best: stretch film from 17 to 20-micron 

Typically, the usual market practice uses 23 microns for heavy loads, but Thong Guan has innovated the use of thinner < = 17-micron films that do the same job but better.   

Mechanical Film Application

When film is applied using a stretch wrapping machine, the rolls are larger, typically having a 500 mm and 750 mm width and a gauge of 20 microns and above. Thong Guan is currently looking to replace it with 15 microns and below. The film is pre-stretched via the machine’s carriage system immediately before application.

Combining the right film and advanced wrapping machine, the film can be pre-stretched by as much as 400%, which is 1 meter to  4 meters. Less efficient machines have a lower pre-stretch capacity, generally less than 150%

The type of wrapping machine is also important since there is no point in using a longer stretch ratio film if the wrapping machine has only limited to lower stretch ratios (e.g., 150% and below for core brake turntable machine)

So how do you choose the right machine film? 

Here are four questions that would be able to help you in determining the suitable stretch film for machine 

  • Q1- What is the perimeter of the pallet 【(length + width)*2】?
  • Q2- What are the number of revolutions of the current wrapping? (this needs to be calculated visually)
  • Q3- What is the weight of the wrapped stretch film? (This refers to the weight of the stretch film after it has been removed from the packaging)
  • Q4- What is the thickness of the existing stretch film?

With the above information available, we can use formulas to calculate the true pre-stretching of the winding film on the device.

We Can Help You

It doesn’t matter what stretch wrapping machine you need for your applications Thong Guan can help you optimize your wrapping. We can help you select the right film using data technology combined with the right machine scratch film to optimize your wrapping demands. 

Yes, choosing the right stretch film for a machine may not be as easy as just purchasing a “cheap and good” film as there are many other factors mentioned to consider too. 

As stretch film experts, let’s connect and get you on track towards choosing the right stretch film for your machines today. 

Contact us at info@thongguan.com for more info or to enquire more today.

Stretch Film Essentials: Keeping Your Pallets Safe

stretch film TG

We all know that stretch film is essential for your business, particularly if you are brand owners or in manufacturing, distributions, and logistics. 

We understand that the last thing you’d want is high unsaleables. That translates to a compromised bottom line. 

That is why optimum wrap is critical to your entire business.

And one of the most vital steps to optimum wrap is selecting the right gauge stretch films.  

Of course, to achieve optimum wrap with the best-fit stretch film, we will need to know your wrapping requirements, wrapping methods, and more.

However, there are many stretch films in the market, so what are the essential elements of a good stretch film and selection principles for your achieving your wrapping goals? 

Here is a list of essential checklist for optimum wrap:

1. No One Film Fits Them All 

Films are not created equal. Depending on the technology, quality control, and materials, films come in various levels of quality.

And on top of that, there are different types of films with different tension points, tear resistance, layers structure, durability, clarity, and thickness.

So it is essential to find the best films for your different wrapping scenarios like the loads, branding requirements (namely clarity), and handling conditions. 

Also, Stretch film comes in different sizes and thicknesses (gauge) that can and must be paired with your pallet load requirements. 

2. Your Loads Matter

You don’t have to worry about your loads falling apart or being damaged along the journey during a delivery.

Some of the loads that you may be dealing with are:

Pallet Load Profile

  1. Uniformed in shape and typically easy to handle of up to 3” protrusion. (Type A)
  2. Not as uniform and has several protrusion points that may be up to 3” – 6” in length (Type B)
  3. A mix of items or loads with protrusions or even sharp edges of more than 6” (Type C). This may require higher puncture resistance film instead of increasing the thickness of the film (thicker films does not equal high puncture resistance film)

A good stretch film would hold your loads together no matter the type of load you are working with. 

Thong Guan’s nanofilm series provides a different kind of wrapping solution of different types of machines- Ring type, Arm type, Horizontal wrapping, and Turntable type.

No sweat of unwanted complaints—only happy, intact deliveries. 

3. You Want a Stretch Film That Can Perform 

A good stretch film would be able to withstand the pressure of the wrap through its yield strength and gives you optimum containment force. 

It is crucial to look for a stretch film that gives you the right yield strength, containment force, and performance for the loads that are being wrapped. It must be able to withstand the stretch stand without permanent deformation.

Before reaching its yield point, a stretch film will elastically deform. However, a good one reacts like a “rubber band” once the stress stops. Stretch films that show such elasticity assures you that your goods will be secured. 

4. TG Nano Stretch Film Thickness That Works With Your Loads

What type of loads are you working with?

  • Light – If you are dealing with light products such as tissues and bottling or cans, the best thickness of the stretch film to use would be 10 – 15 microns (39 gauge – 59 gauge)
  • Medium –  For medium loads such as handling goods with cartons, the best thickness of the stretch film to use would be 12 – 17 microns (47 gauge – 67 gauge)
  • Heavy – When dealing with heavier loads like PET drinks, resin bags (25kgs), or even 200 litter drums, the best thickness of the stretch film that would be most fitting are from 17 – 20 microns (67 gauge – 79 gauge)

Choosing the right stretch film thickness to fit and protect your load type goes a long way. It prevents the risks of unwanted tears or film failures. 

5. Shipping Risks and Governing Guidelines

There is a lot of transportation risk that takes place on the road. This is why using good stretch films takes the headache away from avoidable damages and losses. 

EUMOS (European Safe Logistics Association) has established the EUMOS 40509 method, To improve transport safety. Its purpose is to guarantee the cargo’s safety and rigidity under the 2014/47/EU directive. 

This directive puts strict demands for the transport of goods on pallets within the EU based on standards issued by EUMOS and no longer holds the transporter responsible for product damage and cargo losses. 

Besides its hefty fines, following this guide serves to protect and preserve stakeholders’ and consumers’ trust. 

A good stretch film would be able to keep your load pallets safe from your wrapping process to delivery because it can secure your load intact. We at Thong Guan know about the stretch film essentials in Malaysia and global markets too. We would be able to advise you in compliance with EUMOS standards. 

So, What Are The Essentials of Good Stretch Film?

in conclusion, here’s a summary of our checklist for your optimum wrap

  • There is no single “good” stretch film. Not every stretch film is the same. 
  • A good stretch film keeps away the worries of logistic damages or loss – your goods will be delivered as wrapped. 
  • There might be different types of loads, but a good stretch film will hold them together securely.
  • Stretch film gauge makes a difference when it comes to variant load weights. 
  • The right stretch film fulfills governing guidelines, which helps keep goods safe. You will be following industry delivery standards that your clients trust.

Choosing the right stretch film is essential. 

Partnering with NEWTON Research & Development Centre (the first dynamic simulation lab in the Asia Pacific), we help brand owners like you obtain exact data and obtain the right setting to achieve your optimum wrap goals through state-of-the-art lab testings. 

Contact us at info@thongguan.com for more info or to enquire more today.

Why Should Your Shipment Be Pallet Wrapped?

Thong Guan right gauging to achieve sustainability goals and lower TCO

Packaging is crucial when transporting goods by trucks, planes and ships to various locations. Factors such as distance, product weight, product volume, product value, and the packaging methodology determine the safety and cost of transportation.

Most shipments are pallet wrapped due to several reasons as discussed in this post. But before we delve in, there is a need to first define the following terms “pallets” and “palletizing”. 

What are pallets?

Pallets are plane structures utilized in commercial and industrial establishments to support goods or containers. They help make the movement of goods easier during cargo transportation. The standard size for a pallet is 120×80 centimeters – they are stacked upon cargos in a process known as pelletizing. 

Defining palletizing

Palletizing is a process of dispatching cargo safely. During this process, cargos are placed on a pallet and fastened with wraps or straps to hold it firm and stabilize its positioning. The purpose of palletizing is to prevent unwanted movements of goods on transportation systems.

The importance of a packing system

Setting up a packing system will ensure:

  • ease for anyone handling the products
  • optimization of space and weight
  • establishment of a standard of protection that will ensure your product is secured and not damaged 

How to build pallets

Palletizing eliminates damage, guarantees a successful voyage, and ensures a professional and timely delivery. If you want to deliver your shipment without hassles, then consider the following methods of building pallets, whether they will be voyaged across the ocean, by air, or land. 

  • The inside of the pallet should be wrapped using a pallet wrapping machine with high-quality shrink wrap a few times while leaving room for the forklift. Do not cut the stretch-wrap but prepare it when you are done stacking. It’s now time for assembling your boxes.

  • Use a flat cardboard slip sheet beneath the load and throughout the layers to help solidify loose boxes and distribute the weight.

  • Align your boxes in columns, laying the heaviest on the bottom, corner-to-corner on the pallet to give additional stacking strength. Avoid interlocking or any irregular layer patterns.

  • Avoid creating a pyramid, always keep the top layer flat to prevent damage from top loads.

  • Do not extend boxes beyond the pallet’s edge else they will get crushed.

  • Aligning the corners of boxes in the gaps between pallet boards could risk damage from the forklift, possibly making it immovable.

  • For added strength, use cardboard corner-boards at each corner of the entire shipment and a final cardboard slip sheet on top.

  • Use pallet stretch film or stretch-wrap you set aside to cover the shipment to stabilize the load.

  • Take note that pallet stretch film only stabilizes the load not fully secure it; hence, use nylon straps or bands to tighten the shipment if you observe the need for extra stability. 

  • Include all necessary documents and affix proper labels to the shipment.

At this point, your shipment is pallet-wrapped and ready to be shipped. Remember to provide guidelines to your packing team to guarantee the safest and easiest handled transit for your freight shipment.

This will help you save cost and help you get your product to your customers undamaged. 

Shipment wrap pallet

 

Things to know when shipping pallets

The International Organization for Standardization [ISO] has laid down several measures that cater to various aspects of shipping pallets.

  • The most commonly utilized pallet size is 48 inches (breadth) by 40 inches (length) and is commonly used in ships in the Northern American shipping zone

  • In Europe, the sizes of the pallets used measures approximately 40 inches (breadth) by 47 inches (length)

  • The most commonly used pallets in Australia measure 42 inches (breadth) by 42 inches (length)

  • Utilization of inferior materials could result in detrimental shipping, which would affect the reputation and credibility of the shipper and the consignor

  • Wood is the most commonly used material used for shipping pallets. However, various regulations need to be addressed before a wooden pallet is approved for utilization

  • Apart from wood, paper, plastic, and steel are used as viable structures for cargo consignments’ palletizing 

The Bottom Line 

Transporting goods needs proper containerization to keep them safe. Cargo Shipping and Freight Services are dedicated to providing professional goods and cargo consignments using pallets. 

Pallet stretch film is employed to solve issues related to transporting heavy loads, and that is the reason why it is widely used worldwide. For more information, feel free to get in touch with us.

Achieve Your Sustainability Goals & Lower Your TCO with Right Gauging

Right Gauging: Thong Guan helps you achieve sustainability goals and lower your TCO

Achieving sustainability goals is the trend moving forward. Doing so while focusing on lowering the total cost of ownership (TCO) can be daunting. Therefore, in this article, we will talk about using the right gauging to achieve your goals.

Everyone is striving to achieve sustainability goals, albeit a taxing task to balance between business growth and sustainability.

On the one hand, sustainability covers many factors—downgauging, bioplastics, reduction of unsaleables, accidents and wastage, and more.

And can be rather costly at the current stage due to various reasons.

While on the other, the business must continue to grow to thrive.

As such arriving at an equilibrium between these two factors has always been a struggle for businesses.

Downgauging for Business but Not Sustainability

Downgauging can happen through the reduction of film thickness. At the moment, we’re proud to say that Thong Guan can achieve 5-micron “thin” stretch films. 

Despite the trend of continuously downgauging to create the thinnest film, we cannot forgo the fact that it poses the threat of constant tearing.

That leads to unwanted downtime at your production floor and unnecessary wastage.

So, the next question is, how thin is thin without having your goods scattered over the roads en route?

This makes matters worse if you’re trying to achieve your sustainability goals.

As such, downgauging is not the only way to achieve sustainability in the bigger picture.

At Thong Guan, we focus on right-gauging to allow you to achieve your sustainability goals while lowering your TCO.

That is why it makes it possible for us to achieve ”thin” stretch films with minimal to zero tearing.

How can we achieve the right gauging for you?

Right Gauging with Big Data

Gauge is the measure of the thickness of your stretch film. And typically, they may range from 37 to 150 gauge (about 9.4 to 38.1 microns). 

Thong Guan’s thinnest film by far is about 19.7 gauge, to be exact, 5 microns.

Right gauging is basically finding the right thickness for your application needs. 

However, the thickness is not the only factors to consider in the right gauging.

It is when we ask questions like

  • What is the weight of your load?
  • What is the shape of your load?
  • What are the properties of your stretch film? I.e. holding power, prestretch, high-performance, gauge/thickness, types, etc.

As such, it is safe to say, the best way to right gauging is through data.

The Implications of Right Gauging

It is important to understand that a heavier load puts more force on the stretch film. 

This means you will need a stronger stretch film.

In terms of holding power, you will need less holding power and durability for uniform loads, for instance, pallets containing boxes of the same size. 

On the other hand, you’d require more with irregular and unstable loads.

The heavier the load and the more force the stretch wrap will be under, the stronger your stretch film will need to be.

With the expansive range of our stretch films, you will find different stretch films that come with different properties and holding power.

How does right gauging achieve more sustainability?

It’s simple. 

Best-fit film equals stable load.

That translates to lowered risks of load breaking accidents en route, fewer damages to the loads, reduced risks of road accidents, and no more unsaleables.

Do you know that 4% of all transported goods are damaged upon arrival?

And are mostly caused by incorrect wrapping methods. 

Perhaps, only downgauging was done and not right gauging due to the pressure to reduce the cost of packaging over time.

As such, films are made inferiors.

That is why at Thong Guan, quality matters to us.

Plus, you can opt for the bio-based stretch film if you’d want to take that extra mile towards achieving your sustainability goals.

How does right gauging help in lowering TCO?

But, that’s not all. 

If we look at the entire supply chain and how poor (or good) packaging is impacting your total costs, then you’d probably think twice the next time your Purchasing Department is selecting the films while ignoring the feedback from your head of Production.

This is where Thong Guan comes aims to play a role in connecting your supply chain not just internal but externally through data, and innovative products and solutions.

We do so with the integration of industrial 4.0, the use of big data for smart insights, and superior products that matches your needs.

Testing your wrapping, understanding your stretch film properties, and optimising your entire packaging process flow is the way towards a lowered TCO.

Conclusion

Right gauging with Thong Guan can help you achieve the balance between increasing your bottom line, growing your business while achieving your sustainability goals.

For more info, contact us at info@thongguan.com

How COVID-19 Impact the Packaging Industry?

Boxes On Conveyor Belt

The coronavirus pandemic has affected each and every industry in one way or another. The packaging industry, especially, has applications in numerous global sectors. Therefore, it is important to study the COVID-19 impact on the packaging industry.

Before the global pandemic, most of the packaging companies and stretch film manufacturers were working to fulfil sustainability goals. However, the pandemic has negatively affected such progress. Packaging companies that were trying to develop and implement modern technology to enhance sustainability and eco-friendliness of the processes now face some serious challenges.

The rising concerns about the hygiene and overall safety of reusable packaging have greatly slowed down the progress of the industry towards adopting modern sustainable solutions. It is easier to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the packaging industry by discussing different types of packaging.

 

a. Transportation Packaging

The increase in the demand for industrial and transportation packaging is associated with the overall economic activities and production levels. During the pandemic, the GDP of most of the countries has seen a sharp decline, which means a significant reduction in packaging demand. However, at the same time, this effect has been offset to some extent by the fact that industrial customers are buying products and containers in huge quantities. 

Similarly, packaging in some industries like food and medical supplies has not declined. In fact, the pharmaceutical industry has seen a huge rise in the packaging requirements due to the massive production of PPEs, face masks, gloves, ventilators, and many other such products. Moreover, increasing demand for corrugated packaging and stretch wraps in the e-commerce industry has made up for the demand lost in other industries. 

 

b. Consumer Packaging

Due to the closure of hotels, restaurants, and food-service outlets, there has been a sharp decline in the demand for packaging in the food industry. However, a significant majority of the consumers are moving towards grocery purchases, which has increased the packaging demand.

Even at the start of the pandemic, most of the consumers started stockpiling a huge amount of food, beverages, and other necessary items. Yet, the demand for good premium packaging has taken a significant hit as most consumers are avoiding unnecessary expenses. 

 

c. Healthcare Packaging

The demand for the packaging of healthcare-related products is rapidly rising. Stretch film manufacturers also see a sharp increase in the demand for stretch wraps and other items like flexible blister foils and rigid plastics that have applications in different parts of the healthcare industry. 

 

d. Future Trend

It is important for the packaging industry and the industrial bags and film manufacturers to be ready for the ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic in the next months and even years because it will take a significant amount of time to get this global pandemic under control. The crude oil prices are falling due to the pandemic, and hence, the cost of oil-based raw materials like plastic resins will also decline. 

Moreover, border closures are creating certain challenges to the packaging companies because it has disturbed the entire global supply chain. There is a lot of uncertainty about this entire crisis. As a result, the actions of different governments can be quite unpredictable, due to which the packaging demand is also expected to remain disturbed in the foreseeable future.  

 

Recommendations

Now that you have become familiar with the COVID-19 impact on the packaging industry, it is highly important that the companies and manufacturers make the right strategies to sail through this global pandemic.

It is highly important that stretch film manufactures and other packaging companies rely on authentic and reliable information to make useful risk mitigation strategies. For this purpose, the packaging industry should consider creating a united crisis-response centre that will analyze the available information and recommend efficient strategies for the benefit of all stakeholders.

The primary goal of the industry should be to protect the health and safety of the employees. As a result, it is important that packaging manufacturers reevaluate their production and manufacturing techniques. Moreover, the companies must understand the disruptions in the global supply chain to avoid the adverse impacts of the pandemic. 

 

The Bottom Line

Certain aspects of the packaging industry have definitely taken a hit during the pandemic. It is important that the leadership teams in this industry develop effective recovery strategies.

Such strategies include making comprehensive financial plans, operational plans, and any important changes that have to be made at the production to restart manufacturing activities.

Ultimately, with such strategies, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the packaging industry can be mitigated to a great extent.