The Packaging Group

BONDED POLY CORD STRAPPING (non-woven) Bonded cord strapping is used as a safe, inexpensive product for bundling and securing a wide variety of items across a multitude of industries. From agriculture, landscaping, automotive, printing, light building products, to baling corrugated and plastic for recycling, bonded cord strapping is your best solution.   WOVEN CORD STRAPPING Woven cord strapping provides additional bi-directional strength and split resistance often required in harsher environments. General purpose woven cord strapping is cost effective and ideal for securing and bundling light to medium/ heavy loads for most industries. Heavy duty and extra heavy duty cord strapping are super tough-high tensile products designed for application to replace more expensive steel strapping. These products are used primarily for securing heavy and extra heavy loads in the bundling, metal and plastics industries as well as for rail car load securement.   COMPOSITE CORD STRAPPING Comp

Containment Force Force to load is the amount of force the film exerts on the load to maintain its integrity. This is extremely important when down-gauging. This measurement will show you that the load integrity is just as good, or better than it was before.                     Keys to Containment A wrapping standard is established Total film revolutions are consistent Containment force is equal Film weight is known, consistent, and repeatable   Pre Stretch: Normally a fixed value affected by the equipment's gear ratio. This is the amount of stretch achieved in the equipment's pre-stretch rollers. Force-to-Load Stretch: The amount film stretches as it is applied to the load. This figure may deviate from the equipment's pre-stretch. Factors such as equipment settings and film composition affect the "on pallet" stretch. Cut and Weigh:   Exactly what it says. Cut the film off and weigh it. This is the only way to exactly know the customer'

Ultimate An ultimate break is a straight-line break with pointed edges. The break occurs when the film has been pre-stretched beyond its limits.         Film Flaws Bad Edges Film has nicks or flaws in edges Causes a tear from on edge through the film Creates a diagonal break May also be caused by machine rubbing edges Gels Unmelted Plastic in film Causes a tear from on the center of the roll Creates a diagonal break from gel point May also be caused by burrs or nicks on rollers Why do failures occur? No understanding of containment No wrapping standards established No adherence to a developed standard   Make sure you know the difference between cast and blown stretch film and check out our selection of stretch wrap .

What is AAR and AAR approved strapping? AAR stands for the Association of American Railroads, an organization that independently test strapping for rail car packaging. The Packaging Group sells several types of Polyester strapping with different characteristics. Search our collection of AAR approved plastic straps by finding the (AAR) listed under "Type". How do you remove plastic straps? Since plastic straps are applied under tension and retain their tension, it must be removed with caution. Eye protection is required even though plastic strapping may not be perceived to be as sharp as steel strap­ping, it still can cause serious cuts or even blindness. As pictured to the right, wearing safety glasses, place a hand on one side of the plastic strapping to be cut. With solid footing, also place your body in front of your hand holding down the strap and away from the free side of the strapping. When the strapping is cut, the free side will fall away from you. On the flip si

How to Load a Coil Onto a Dispenser Most plastic strapping is shipped with protective and securing packaging. The coil pictured below has a protective shrink wrap­ping. Many of the narrow­er straps also have corru­gated side plates to avoid problems like massive unwinding and pull downs (see photos). Using a pair of scissors or safety knife carefully cut the plastic stretch film out of the core opening. Keep all of the remaining packaging on the coil until the coil is tightened securely on the dispenser, then, and only then is the top pack­aging cut carefully off the top edges of the coil with a safety knife or scissors. Always leave the side plates on and don't worry about the shrink wrap remaining on the sides of the coil. Your plastic strap is ready for use now that it's been properly loaded onto the dispenser!   Be sure to check out our full selection of plastic straps, tools, and accessories .

Plastic Strapping Sealless Weld Joints Seallesss joints can be created with manual strapping tools or pneumatic combinations strapping tools. Using interlocking keys, the sealless joints provide static joint strength equal to that of notch-type joints. The reverse lock sealless joint emphasizes one reversed interlocking key for added security in impact conditions.  Used for medium to high volume use. Heat Seal A heater blade produces the strongest seal joint efficiency. Friction Seal Strap is fused by heat created by friction.   Read more on the other types of plastic  strap closures  and shop our selection of  plastic straps .

Polypropylene Smooth Metal Seals The proper steel seals for polypropylene straps are smooth metal seals. A tensioner and the correct sealer with symmetrical jaws will produce tight professional seals.   Polyester Serrated Metal Seals The proper metal seals for polyester straps are serrated metal seals. Look at the open seal in the picture below. If you look closely, you can see the rough texture fabri­cated inside the seal for better gripping power on slick sur­faced polyester. A tensioner and the correct sealer with non—symmetrical jaws will produce tight professional seals. Be sure to place the long tooth of the sealer over the long open top of the seal (see arrows) before crimping.   Read more on the other types of plastic  strap closures  and check out our  selection of buckles .

Three Basic Types of Closure The area where two ends of plastic strapping are joined is called the seal joint . Generally, the strength at the joint of the strap is weaker than the break strength of the strapping itself. The joint efficiency is the percent of joint strength in relation to the straps break strength. For example, if the break strength of the strap is 500lbs and at the joint is 400lbs, the joint efficiency is 80%. Strapping is joined by three methods; buckles, seals, and welds .  Learn more about them below: Buckles Seals Welds                            

Plastic and Wire Buckles The work volume, production speed required, and required strength deter­mines closure method. For low volume, low tension applications, buckles are a good method of joining plastic strapping. This is particularly true if portability and cost are major issues. One can easily hand tension the strap, with or without the use of a hand pull or crank tensioner, and apply the buckle without the need of a power source. The metal buckles are stronger than the plastic ones and can withstand greater tensioning. Plastic buck­les are used on lighter weight loads, espe­cially in agriculture, as they can be easily hand applied in the field without the need for tools. Always Use: Phosphate finished buckles on bonded and all woven cord strapping. Galvanized finished buckles are required for composite cord strapping Bright finished buckles are for polypropylene strapping.   Read more on the other types of plastic strap closures and check out our selection of buckles

  This guideline will help you figure out how much strapping do you need for packaging. A general safety rule for products on skids or pallets is to always have a minimum of 2 straps in the load direction. The load direction is how the skid or pallet is moved by a forklift or other piece of equipment. See the bottom of the page for more.   1. Determine Type of Load 2. Ask 3 Questions WEIGHT: Heavy or Light? Heavy loads may require more straps with a heavier break strength. CORNERS: Sharp or Soft? Sharp corners require corner protection. INTEGRITY: Stable or Unstable? Unstable loads require more straps. 3. How Will it be Handled? Handling: On pallets, without pallets? Products without pallets require more securement. Storage: Where is it stored, for how long? Outdoor storage and exposure to UV light favor Polyester strapping. Transported: How is it transported; by rail, open truck, closed truck, common carrier, company carrier? The rougher the ride, the more secure

Three Types of Plastic Strap Tensioning Tools MANUAL Strap tensioners can be very basic for manual operation . The most popular manual tensioners are the windlass type that are used in conjunction with the prop­er sealer that are described in the sealer section below. BATTERY For portability and medium to heavy ten­sioning, battery powered tools are the answer. Whether out in the yard or way back in the plant, you won't need an air or electric­ity power source to operate these friction sealing. tools. PNEUMATIC For in-line production and medium to extra heavy tensioning applications an air powered friction sealing tool is your best choice. Pneumatic tools require compressed air and usually operate at 90-100 PSI.   Strap Seals POLYPROPYLENE SMOOTH METAL SEALS Polypropylene straps must be sealed with a polypropylene sealer and standard metal seals . POLYESTER TEXTURED METAL SEALS Polyester straps must be sealed with a polyester sealer and special textured metal sea

WHY ARE THERE SO MANY STRAPPING CORE SIZES? People often ask this question and the answer is that the various strap­ping equipment manufacturers once tried to lock in their consumable (plastic strapping), with their particular brand of equipment by having a unique core size. The theory is an old one built upon the premise that only your razor blades will fit in your razors. This practice worked well for some razor companies, but has proved to be a faulty one in the poly strap industry as our products are guaran­teed to run in all manufacturers' equipment. The Packaging Group sells whatever core size you need for your specific production. Some of our most popular sizes: Hand grade Polypropylene : 16×6, 16×3, 8×8 Machine grade Polypropylene :8×6, 8×8, 9×8, 16×6 Polyester, machine and hand grade : 16×6, 16×3.   See our full selection of plastic straps, tools, and accessories .

Plastic strapping stretch­es under hand, tool, or machine tension. We call this stretch elongation . Its natural tendency will be to recover to its original length. Over time it will have the tendency to relax and lose some of its elastic properties. This is called tension decay . Matching the strapping characteristics to the load characteristics is the key to optimal performance. Elongation Break Polyester: 12% Polypropylene: 20 —25% Nylon: 8% Retained tension is the strap's ability to hold tension over time.  There is an upper limit to the stretch to which after that point the properties of the strap will be destroyed and it will not recover properly. This is called the elastic limit . Embossed vs. Smooth Plastic strapping for friction seal tools and equipment is generally smooth and for heat sealing, the strap is generally textured or embossed. There are exceptions to this rule as new heat seal equipment handles both smooth or embossed with equal ease. Embossing does

You may be wondering how you can tell what is what, when it comes to plastic strapping. Here's a quick reference to use in identifying the differences. Polypropylene (PP) Usually textured or embossed. Made in standard colors-white, yellow, black blue, and clear. Polyester (PET) Smooth and glossy slick in appear­ance like the green plastic soda bottles we all love. Usually shiny green or shiny black in color.   Tear it up To tell the difference, you can easily tear lengthwise polypropylene while polyester will not easily split. A 2 or 3 inch section of (PET) will sink when placed in water, (PP) will float.   Specifications You can often easily identify and cross reference plastic strapping by the manufacturer's product code. If the product code is not available then collect as much of the following information as possible. Physical attributes of the coil such as coil face and core inside diameter (I.D.) are critical. The product's width, finish, footage, thicknes

HAND GRADE This grade is made to less demanding specifications and may have up to one splice. This grade is used in manual hand and battery powered tools. MACHINE GRADE ­ Made to the highest specifications and contains no splices. It's made for use in strapping machines with higher production rates than manual strapping to decrease downtime. Check out our full selection of strapping, tools, and accessories .

POLYPROPYLENE Polypropylene is the most economical, lightweight, and well suited for most light to medium weight bundling and light palletizing applications. POLYESTER   Polyester is rapidly replacing steel for medium to heavy duty unitizing and palletizing applications. Polyester has the highest retained tension of the four kinds. POLYESTER CORD ­ Polyester Cord operates like a flat rope because it's very portable and no tools are necessary. Cord comes in three types; bonded, woven, and composite . Bonded is the most economi­cal while woven has bi-directional fibers for greater split resistance. Composite cord is polyester fibers coated with a clear polypropylene layer. NYLON Nylon  is almost entirely not used anymore. It used to be famous for its high cost and highest tension recovery. Today, less expensive polyester has all but totally replaced nylon.  Now that you understand the differences between each type, shop our full line of strapping, tools and accessories .

Customer service in a box Did you know that 3 out of 5 customers are up for trying a new brand or company for a better customer service? It's true, and it's changing how businesses improve their customer service. Many businesses limit their customer service experience to interactions with their customers in person, phone or online. The often overlooked part of customer service is the shipping packages that customers get through e-commerce purchases. Deliveries go through a long, complicated trip just to arrive at a customers' front door. Many times, that delivery will be the first time the customer is interacting with the service provided by your company. What if that delivery shows up torn, damaged, or even opened? Is the customer going to come back to you? You may be telling customers that their order isn't a priority with sloppy and damaged goods. Luckily, we have some tips to improve box appearance and most importantly, safety during shipping. The right size bo

Customer service in a box Did you know that 3 out of 5 customers are up for trying a new brand or company for a better customer service? It's true, and it's changing how businesses improve their customer service. Many businesses limit their customer service experience to interactions with their customers in person, phone or online. The often overlooked part of customer service is the shipping packages that customers get through e-commerce purchases. Deliveries go through a long, complicated trip just to arrive at a customers' front door. Many times, that delivery will be the first time the customer is interacting with the service provided by your company. What if that delivery shows up torn, damaged, or even opened? Is the customer going to come back to you? You may be telling customers that their order isn't a priority with sloppy and damaged goods. Luckily, we have some tips to improve box appearance and most importantly, safety during shipping. The right size bo