Protect Products, Cut Cost with TAB Wrapper Tornado Orbital Wrapping Machine

Pipe, valve and fitting distributor City Pipe & Supply, Odessa, Texas, has eliminated cuts, scrapes and other reportable incidents that occurred in the packaging and shipping department by replacing its manual stretch-wrapping method with the automated TAB Wrapper Tornado orbital wrapping machine. Cutting workers’ compensation claims to zero, the orbital wrapper features patent-pending technology that wraps plastic film 360 degrees around and under the pallet and its load while raised on a forklift to create a sturdy, unitized load in less than one minute, even when wrapping City Pipe & Supply’s large, heavy, and oddly shaped products for the oil and gas industry.

The new wrapping system replaces the company’s manual method, which required two workers to wrap the load by hand while raised on a forklift, passing the film roll back and forth and trying to keep the products in place without tearing the film, knocking the product off the pallet, or bumping their heads working under the pallet. “Nobody enjoyed doing this job, including me,” says Charlie Justice, vice president of City Pipe & Supply. “Now, everybody loves the TAB Wrapper Tornado and nobody wants to go back to wrapping by hand.”

Justice purchased the TAB Wrapper Tornado model with an 80-inch wrapping ring for his busiest facility and has since purchased four more with 80” and 100” wrapping rings to automate the process in other locations. “The TAB Wrapper Tornado has eliminated injuries and turned a dangerous job into one that our people actually enjoy doing,” says Justice. “I would recommend it to anyone as an upgrade from wrapping pallets by hand.”

Touch-Screen Controls with Built-In Training Guides

Included as standard equipment at no extra charge, the touch-screen HMI features a clear, colorful, visual menu structure with built-in training guides for intuitively easy setup, operation and preventative maintenance. The video training guides present operating instructions on screen at the machine rather than in print, on DVD, or online for fast learning, superior retention and convenient review at any time. Setting the wrapping parameters based on the pallet load, replacing empty stretch-film rolls, and understanding the designed-in safety features are among the instructional videos included.

Developed to enable entry-level workers to safely manage the wrapping function, the new touch-screen control panel is included on all three TAB Wrapper Tornado Perfect Storm models and on custom models.

New Multi-Pallet Accumulation Zones

Developed to improve efficiency and keep lift trucks from idle time, the multi-pallet accumulation zones set modular, powered conveyors at the infeed with a proprietary sensor array that recognizes the presence of a pallet load to be wrapped. The TAB Wrapper Tornado Perfect Storm automatically feeds the pallet load from the accumulation zone onto the infeed conveyor then into the center ring for wrapping and to discharge in a continuous process, automatically adjusting the wrapping to the dimensions of the pallet load. With multiple accumulation zone extensions available, the orbital wrapping system enables lift truck operators to unload and stage multiple pallet loads for wrapping then tend to other tasks without waiting for loads in process to be wrapped and without stopping to run the system.

Introducing Portable Machines

At Modex from March 9-12, 2020 in Atlanta, Ga., TAB Industries plans to introduce their portable TAB Wrapper Tornado orbital wrapping machines that may be moved safely without requiring a lift truck. Featuring durable casters and mounting brackets, the optional portability package was developed to ease movement around warehouses, production lines, shipping departments, and other locations. Workers simply turn a crank to lower the casters onto the floor and raise the machine off the floor to allow smooth movement from one location to another. Once in place, the casters may be raised in seconds and the machine lowered onto the floor, ready to plug in and operate.

Offered in addition to the built-in fork tubes included as standard that allow movement by forklift, the portable TAB Wrapper Tornado stretch-wrappers are ideal for packaging and material handling managers interested in automating the wrapping process at multiple assembly lines and other locations without investing in multiple machines. By moving the machine to the product, the portability package reduces product handling and minimizes the risk of damage to products in process.

Visit TAB Industries at Modex Booth #2124.

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