How Much Does It Cost To Wrap Pallets At Your Industrial Warehouse?

Understanding the costs of all areas and processes in your business is vital in determining whether your business model is successful. While there are literally hundreds of processes in any business, today, we’re going to focus on the cost of wrapping pallets for logistics, warehousing and transportation businesses. Pallet wrapping is one of the most important processes in these kinds of businesses as pallet wrapping keeps the goods being transported or stored, safe and secure.

By securing your load with pallet wrap, it also makes it easier to move the pallets more efficiently, and to pack them with other pallets and items a lot easier to do. Because of this, it is one of OSHA’s top safety management protocols. There are many ways you can work out as there are many variables that can impact the cost of pallet wrapping. We’re going to talk you through some of the various ways you can work out the cost of wrapping pallets.

A Starting Point

One of the simplest ways we like to at least get a gauge on pallet wrapping costs is with a simple experiment. You need to know the cost of the stretch wrap you use, which if you know the weight and the cost of the roll, that’s half of the battle. We then hand wrap a pallet with stretch wrap, once fully wrapped and secure, we actually remove the wrap, and weigh it. We can then work out the cost of the wrap used by working out the weight of the wrap per gram. The thing to keep in mind is that this is an extremely simple way to at least get a gauge of the costs of wrapping a pallet.

However, this experiment doesn’t factor in variables like how long it takes to complete the job and the real cost of that particular worker doing the job. To do this, a simple measure would be to use the hourly cost of an employee and to time the process. So, you could calculate the cost of that worker per minute, and time the pallet wrapping process, then using the minute rate of the worker and the time it took to wrap the pallet, you could work out the cost of the labour. Add this to the cost of the materials and you have a very simple estimate.

This simple estimate could be used to have a rough idea of your costs. Given the many different variables as well as potential efficiencies that are being overlooked, these costs are likely to be overestimated. There are plenty of variables that can influence the costs of pallet wrapping, so keep reading to learn about these other influencing factors.

Factors That Influence The Cost Of Wrapping Pallets

If you’re trying to determine the true costs of pallet wrapping in your business or looking for a way to create efficiencies, here are some of the factors that matter:

Hand Wrapping Pallets Vs Machine Wrapping

Hand wrapping a pallet is almost always going to be more expensive than using a pallet wrapping machine. That is, unless you’re only wrapping a minimal number of pallets in your business. If you’re only wrapping one pallet maximum per week, getting a machine for the job may not necessarily be the best investment. Though, pallet wrapping machines do come with a lot of benefits. A pallet wrapping machine not only wraps a pallet faster than a person doing it, but it also helps to reduce workplace employee accidents and injury for the worker who would be wrapping it manually. In addition to this, a pallet wrapping machine is usually more efficient in terms of the amount of stretch wrap it uses to wrap a pallet.

Many pallet wrapping machines come with a pre-stretch function, which can actually stretch the stretch wrap before it is applied to the pallet, meaning that you’re using less stretch wrap to wrap the pallet. Many pallet wrapping machines also have a function to ensure breakage of the stretch wrap doesn’t occur. The type of machine you use will influence its efficiency and ability to reduce the use of stretch wrap, however, it is often a useful tool in reducing costs.

The Type Of Wrap You’re Using

Stretch wrap comes in a variety of gauges and strengths, each of which will have different costs and different stretching capabilities. It’s important to seek advice regarding the um of your stretch wrap, the machines or methods you’re using to wrap and the types of materials and pallets that you’re wrapping. For example, if you switch from a 25 gauge stretch wrap to a 15 gauge one, if used properly, this will help to reduce costs.

The kinds Of Pallets You’re Wrapping

If you’re regularly wrapping ugly pallets, as in those that have awkward shaped items, are tall or wide, this too can impact your cost calculations. Perhaps, every one in ten pallets is an odd shaped one, so it would be worth determining the cost of wrapping that sort of pallet to estimate your future costs based on the average number of odd-shaped pallets you’re wrapping per week or per month. After all, you could also use this methodology to calculate return on investments for financial performance. It’s easy to overlook these differences, however, often you will end up using more stretch wrap on these kinds of pallets.

Stretch Wrap, Pallet Machines And More

If you’re looking to create efficiencies in your pallet wrapping processes, then get in touch with the logistics and warehousing packaging experts at Melbourne Packaging Supplies. They offer a range of packaging materials, machinery and tools to ensure you can run the most efficient processes in your business. They ship their products and equipment all over Australia from Melbourne.

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