Page 53 - The Inside Scoop Archive

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application to the pallet.

Printing on stretch film has been around for a good many years, but has never really caught on for a variety
of reasons. Some of the reasons for it's lack of market pentration include the following:

l Stretch film is extremely difficult to print in comparison to regular polyethylene film. Because
stretch film is designed to stretch and tighten back up, any print placed on the surface is sure to
change shape and size during the wrapping process. Some printers compensate for this by compacting
the print so that when it is stretched it will look normal. Even this is difficult to do when pre-stretch
levels can vary from 100 - 300% on various machines within the same company.
l It is also almost impossible to print on many stretch films because of the tackifiers used on their
surface to provide cling between the layers. The stretch film used in printing needs to have a surface
that will allow the print ( ink ) to adher to it without running and smearing. This is not easy to do
without treating the film surface to accept printing, which usually leads to a high unwind force in
stretch film, and poor cling.
l Thicker films are easier to print than thinner films, but are also less cost effective.
l A major problem with applying printed films by machine or handwrap is that the print is criss crossed
over itself as the pallet is wrapped up and down so that the print is difficult to read due to overlaps
and partial over layering of the print on the pallet. Some have printed on a white opaque stretch film
so that only the last layer of the print can be read. This is better but can still present a somewhat
messy looking pallet.
l COST, as in HIGHER COST, is the number one reason printed stretch film is not more widely used
today. A general rule of thumb would be that printed stretch film will cost you approximately three
times that of unprinted stretch film. A roll of stretch film that might nornally cost you $ 35.00 could
cost you $ 105.00 if printed. A few years ago, we had a customer who wanted to have their company
logo printed ( one color ) on their film. We had it done for them and it looked great. Everything was
going along fine until their accounting department suddently discovered that they had spent their
annual budget for stretch film in the first quarter of the year. Needless to say they went back to
clear film right away.

The most cost effective way to use printed stretch film, and the way I would recommend, is to have your
printing done on either a 5" narrow roll, or a handwrap roll using a stiff low stretch film. Then apply this
film by hand, either before or after the regular wrap cycle, so that you only go around the pallet once. This
single layer of printed film is very cost effective and allows the message to be read without criss cross
layers jumbling the message. Apply another layer of handwrap or machine film on top of the printed film to
protect it from removal or distortion. This is a simple and economical way to use printed stretch film to
advertise your company, service, or products, with a minimum additional cost to your regular stretch
wrapping. If you are interested in seeing if printed stretch film makes sense for you, give us a call, and we
will be happy to help.

file://C:\Documents and Settings\William Jackson\Local Settings\Temp\tmp346.htm 12/28/2006