I constantly have salespeople telling me that their stretch film is superior and costs less. How can I tell what is true and what is just a pitch?
Hello Paul,
Thanks for sending in your question!
As a student of physics my entire life, I always look to science for the answers. I’ve found it to be the best way to separate reality from hype.
I recognize that every good salesperson truly believes they have the best and least expensive product, and because of that, they can be quite convincing. If you base your analysis on facts and use an objective method of comparison, you can put the sales presentation aside and make the decision that is best for you.
The first thing you need to keep in mind is that a one-size-fits-all product does not exist. While a particular product may be the right solution for one application, it may be inadequate, or not work at all, for another. The key is to evaluate your options objectively, based on proven facts and an even playing field. Just remember, what matters at the end of the day is what you need, not what someone wants to sell you.
The next step is the most critical: Define what you are actually buying. I know that may sound obvious, but the answer may surprise you, and it explains why the one-size-fits-all solution is impractical.
People sell you stretch film because you are buying stretch film, right? Wrong!
Think about why you apply stretch film to a pallet. You do so to prevent load failures during transportation. If every load had the same size product, stacked in the same pattern, weighed the same, was wrapped with the same machine, and was shipped the same way over the same distance, it would be much easier to compare stretch film solutions.
But as we know, that is NOT the case. Every load has unique characteristics, and every method of shipment will exert forces on the load in different ways.
Stated another way: What you are buying is load containment and stretch film is simply the means to achieve it.
If you don’t already have one, you need to establish a load containment standard that ensures your product arrives at your customer’s receiving dock intact.
We have an Advanced Technology Load Containment Lab here in Phoenix that was developed to replicate all the forces a load may experience during transportation. We use this equipment to study load containment and can help you define the appropriate load containment standard for your specific application.
Once a load containment standard is established, it becomes the common denominator when evaluating stretch films. With that standard in place, you can directly compare the cost/benefit of various stretch films objectively.
You may find that different grades and thicknesses require more or less film to be applied to a pallet to achieve the same load containment standard. The comparison is no longer simply the cost per roll or per pound. Instead, it becomes the amount of film required to wrap the load to your containment standard, multiplied by the film cost per ounce, which equals your cost per pallet.
Now you have a universal and objective metric for evaluating the true cost of what you are buying: Load Containment!
You may even find that you can save money by purchasing a more expensive film.
Let me give you an example. Our Rapid Films incorporate reinforcement filaments that allow us to stretch the film 2 to 3 times farther than a conventional film while preventing web breaks during wrapping. If you try to stretch conventional film that far, it will typically break in the wrapper.
Stretching the film to this degree removes its elasticity, allowing it to provide greater containment by resisting additional stretch during shipment. As a result, we can normally reduce the amount of film applied to a pallet by half or more while also reducing the number of wraps needed to meet a containment standard
While our cost per roll may be higher, the cost per pallet to wrap a load to your containment standard may be lower because significantly less film is required.
In some rare cases, our cost per pallet may be equal to or greater than what you currently pay. However, by dramatically increasing load containment we can eliminate costly load failures, saving tens, or even hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.
A few years ago, we had a customer who believed they could save $400,000 per year by switching to a less expensive film based on cost per roll. The following year, their total film spend did not decrease at all because they were applying more film per pallet. To make matters worse, they experienced significant load failures.
Had they evaluated the film based on cost per pallet, with each pallet wrapped to their containment standard, they would have known that the change was unlikely to reduce their annual film spend and they could have avoided the added cost of load failures.
My goal here isn’t to sell you stretch film. It’s to help you understand how to use a truly objective method to make the best decision about the right stretch film solution for you.
You won’t receive a high-pressure sales pitch from Allied. Instead, you’ll receive a comprehensive, science-based Value Analysis that quantifies your stretch film cost per pallet, load containment, machine usage, and reduction in the cost of load failures.
Our Rapid Technology is not the right fit for every application. But where it is a fit, we can save customers significant amounts of money while providing optimal load containment and extensive technical support.
Thanks for asking!