For OEMs, securing finished goods for transport is just as critical as the fabrication process itself. Your product can be engineered with exacting tolerances, but if it arrives at a job site or customer facility scraped, shifted, or structurally compromised due to transit, all that hard work is undone. A single damaged shipment can erase margins and erode hard-earned trust.
Despite its importance, packing on the shop floor often becomes an unexpected bottleneck. OEM plant managers and packaging engineers frequently face a recurring dilemma: How do you wrap loads efficiently and securely without overspending on stretch film, creating maintenance headaches, or slowing down production?
The solution starts with choosing the right wrapping technology for your specific load profile. While stretch wrapping generally falls into two primary categories, turntable wrapping and orbital wrapping, there is no single “best” method for every facility. The ideal choice depends entirely on product dimensions, load stability, shipping volumes, and your operational footprint.
Let’s take a side-by-side look at these two wrapping methods to help you identify which solution makes the most sense for your production line.
Understanding the Mechanics of Wrapping
To choose the right stretch wrapper, it helps to understand how each technology applies film to a load.
Turntable Stretch Wrappers
In a turntable setup, the pallet or load sits on a powered turntable that rotates 360 degrees while a vertical film carriage moves up and down a mast. The spinning motion pulls stretch film around the sides of the load, creating a stable vertical wrap.
- Primary Axis: Vertical rotation around a stationary central axis.
- Best Fit: Upright, self-contained, standard-dimension cubic loads.
Orbital Stretch Wrappers
In an orbital setup, the load moves horizontally through a vertical ring (or hoop). As the load passes through the center of the ring, the ring rotates around it, wrapping stretch film over, under, and around both the product and the pallet simultaneously.
- Primary Axis: Horizontal pass-through with vertical orbital ring rotation.
- Best Fit: Long, oversized, odd-shaped, or unpalletized items, as well as standard pallets wrapped directly to the skid.
Side-by-Side Comparison: Matching Load Types to Technology
Different load profiles create distinct packaging challenges. Here is how turntable and orbital wrappers compare across common OEM shipping requirements:
| Load Profile/Feature | Turntable Stretch Wrapper | Orbital Stretch Wrapper | Ideal Solution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard 48" x 40" Cubic Pallets | Exceptional efficiency and high film yield for uniform, upright pallets. | Easily wraps standard pallets and unitizes the load directly onto the wood skid. | Both (Turntable for dedicated standard pallets; Orbital for versatile mixed loads) |
| Long & Oversized Goods (tubing, extrusions, structural steel) | Challenging; long items overhang the turntable, creating clearance and safety risks. | Superior; continuous horizontal pass-through wraps infinite lengths seamlessly. | Orbital Wrapper (e.g., TAB Wrapper Tornado) |
| Odd-Shaped & Irregular Fabrications | Difficult; off-center weight distribution can cause instability on a spinning table. | Superior; the load remains stationary on a conveyor while the ring orbits around it. | Orbital Wrapper (e.g., TAB Wrapper Tornado) |
| Unpalletized Goods & Small Bundles | Not recommended; items must be stacked on a stable pallet to spin safely. | Purpose-built for bundling, parcel wrapping, and securing goods without pallets. | Orbital Wrapper (e.g., TAB Wrapper Lightning) |
| Stretch Film Yield | Extremely high efficiency due to powered pre-stretch technology. | Consistent holding force using mechanical pre-stretch tensioning. | Turntable Wrapper (for maximum raw film stretch ratio) |
Film Usage & Maintenance: What OEMs Need to Know
When calculating total cost of ownership (TCO) for stretch wrapping equipment, film economy and operational uptime are top priorities.
Film Yield & Pre-Stretch Differences
How your machine handles film pre-stretch directly impacts both your material costs and your load stability:
- Powered Pre-Stretch (Turntable Wrappers): Turntable systems utilize motorized rollers to mechanically elongate the stretch film before it is applied to the load. Achieving higher rates of pre-stretch maximizes film yield, stretching every roll further and significantly lowering your per-pallet consumable costs for standard cubic loads.
- Mechanical Pre-Stretch (Orbital Wrappers): Orbital systems like our Tornado line utilize specialized mechanical friction systems that apply firm, adjustable tension directly as the film dispenses from the revolving ring. This mechanical pre-stretch delivers intense holding force and tight wrap tension, ideal for binding heavy, irregular metal parts securely to a pallet base.
User-Friendly Design & Minimal Maintenance
Regardless of which wrapping style fits your line, maintenance downtime is the enemy of throughput. Industrial packaging machinery should be a workhorse—simple to operate, straightforward to service, and built for maximum uptime.
Our TAB Wrapper Tornado lines are engineered to be exceptionally user-friendly with minimal maintenance required, keeping your shipping department moving smoothly shift after shift.
Navigating Mixed Loads: Advice for OEM Plant Managers
What happens when your load profiles don’t align neatly with a single category? Many growing OEMs run multi-product lines: you might ship standard boxed components one day and long structural frameworks the next.
Here’s how to assess your primary needs:
- If your volume is centered on standard 48″ x 40″ cubic pallets: A dedicated turntable wrapper offers maximum film efficiency, fast cycle times, and a compact footprint tailored specifically for standard shipping departments.
- If versatility across load lengths, shapes, and palletized assemblies is paramount: An orbital wrapper like the TAB Wrapper Tornado is extraordinarily versatile. It handles standard 48″ x 40″ cubic loads just as effectively as 20-foot metal tubes, heavy fabrications, or irregular weldments.
- If parcel shipping, loose bundles, and unpalletized goods dominate your output: A compact horizontal orbital wrapper like the TAB Wrapper Lightning streamlines unpalletized packing and eliminates unnecessary pallet costs.
Find Your Wrapper
Choosing between orbital and turntable stretch wrapping is all about finding the right match for your product geometry, throughput, and packaging goals. Check out our full TAB Wrapper Tornado lineup or talk to a TAB specialist to find the perfect wrapper for your needs.