Like any other piece of machinery, pallet wrappers benefit from a regular servicing and maintenance schedule that’s designed to ensure that they keep working as intended. Since it’s often critical to an operation that these machines can be relied on to work smoothly, it’s well worth considering enlisting the services of a specialist company to undertake regular servicing – but there are also some routine activities that can be carried by your operatives or onsite engineers to help ensure that the machines are always in tip top condition.
A regular service and maintenance contract is essential if you need to be confident that your pallet wrapping machinery always remains fully optimised, and to guard against the inconvenience of breakdowns or outages. However there are things that the operatives can do (or not do!) to assist in the maintenance of the machinery:
DO establish a cleaning regime for the equipment. We recommend the following tasks are performed weekly:
DO make regular visual checks to see how the pallet wrapper is working as, if the pallet wrapper is not working correctly, it can often be visually apparent to an operative who knows what they are looking for.
DO ensure that the pallet wrap film is loaded correctly onto the machine. Some models of pallet wrapper can be quite complex to load and it is important that operatives are fully trained in film loading techniques. An incorrect passage of the film through the stretch head will significantly affect its stretch performance, and may cause damage or blockages to the machine which are difficult and expensive to rectify.
DON’T use anything except a wipe/cloth or your bare hands on the rollers. Sometimes, if the wrap gets tangled in the rollers, it is tempting to use a knife to help remove it – but pallet wrapper rollers are often very fragile and easily damaged. Once they have been slit by a knife their efficiency is significantly reduced and more often than not they will need to be replaced. One of the reasons that Hazel 4D recommends the Atlanta range of pallet wrapping machines is that they feature a patented roller and pre stretch system design, which virtually eradicates film tangling and facilitates the easy removal of any film debris. For more information on the Atlanta machines range and to see the many other benefits they offer, check them out on our website here: https://www.hazel4d.com/services/ intelligent-load-stability/
DON’T change the film that you use on your pallet wrapper unless you have had the machine checked and adjusted by a pallet wrap machinery engineer to ensure that the new film is fully optimised. Films perform in very different ways, and at very different stretch levels, and changing f ilm without undertaking all the necessary adjustments will cause issues – either an under optimised film, which will undermine load stability, or an overstretched film, which will cause problems with snapping on the machine.
…as pallet wrappers have a lot of moving parts, and these can cause expensive stoppages and delays. It is therefore strongly recommended that a regular maintenance contract is in place to avoid breakdown from wear and tear of moving parts. For further help or advice on this, why not contact us.
How often should I service my pallet wrapper?
This depends a little on how many pallets you wrap, however we would recommend a service on a quarterly basis for companies wrapping 50 or more pallets per day per wrapper, for lower usage than this, 4 or 6 monthly would be acceptable.
Do different types of pallet wrapper need different levels of service?
Your pallet wrapping machine provider is best placed to answer this, however as a rule of thumb a quarterly service is good practice. Which parts of a pallet wrapper are most prone to wear and tear? The moving parts are most prone to wear and tear. Service engineers will always check and replace if required the drive belts, support wheels and rollers as part of a service.
How much should I expect to pay for pallet wrapping service and maintenance?
This depends on the level of service required and the number of machines, however you can expect to pay £500 – £1200 per year for an inclusive service contract.
How much training should my operatives need to carry out basic pallet wrapping maintenance?
Your machinery installer can give sufficient on site training for operatives to be both proficient in the use of and basic maintenance of your pallet wrapping machines.
There can be no doubt that regular maintenance of your pallet wrapping machinery should be regarded as an essential part of your operational process, and this guide should support you in developing an appropriate maintenance programme for your pallet wrappers. As with most maintenance programmes, most of the steps are simple and common sense – but without them the performance and reliability of you pallet wrapping machines will plummet. Like most other machines with moving parts, pallet wrappers get maximum benefit from a regular maintenance and service contract from a specialist company – and here at Hazel 4D we can help and provide advice on this. Get in touch with us now.
