Strapping Choices - Do I need a strapping machine, a strapping tool or should I stay manual?

534

Having trouble with what choice you should make? Then here are some questions to ask yourself.

• Do I have to strap a lot of parcels or goods together over the period of a day?
• What is the weight of the load I need to strap together? How much strength is required of the strapping?
• Does my strapping mode have to be portable - Do I have to take my items to the strapping or do I have to take my strapping to the items?

If you know the answer to these questions then the answer should be pretty simple.

Low Volume Strapping - which also happens to be portable

Strapping Kits
Strapping Kits are available in either plastic, polyester or steel kits which include everything you need to be able to do manual strapping. As strapping kits are about manually strapping goods together then this takes time which is why it is best for low volume bundling. Kits include strapping, seals, tensioner, crimper and dispenser/stand - which are all relatively small and light items which means they are portable and able to be taken to the goods. 

So the next question is - which kit should I go for?
Each type of strapping has a different breaking strain (as seen below) and so the heavier the goods the higher breaking strain required.
So What's the difference between Polester Strapping and Steel Strapping?
It pretty much comes down to preference, however for OH & S issues, many consider the polystrapping to be safer than the metal strapping. The Polyester Strapping is lighter (so freight costs are lower), and it is cheaper per meter.

Plastic Strapping:
12mm plastic – has a 70kg breaking strain
15mm plastic – 140Kg breaking strain
19mm plastic heavy duty – 400Kg breaking strain

Polyester Strapping :
12mm Poly – 230Kg breaking strain
15m Poly – 500Kg breaking strain
19mm Poly – 850Kg breaking strain

Steel Strapping :
12mm steel – 543Kg breaking strain
15mm steel – 629Kg breaking strain
19mm steel – 893 breaking strain

Portable and higher volume Strapping (than strapping kits)

Zapak or ZenthPack Battery Operated Strapping Tools 
Hand Held and battery operated strapping tools like the Zapak or ZenithPack are;

• portable
• fast to strap
• strong and reliable
• can use either plastic or polyester strapping

Consider a situation where you may need to take the strapping machine to the goods as opposed to the goods to the strapping machine - like planks of wood, logs, or even a pallet load of goods. These battery operated strapping tools will automatically tension and seal the strap - without needing metals seals or buckles - all in one action. you can move around or even take them on location with you.

High Volume Strapping

Semi Auto or Automatic Strapping Machine
The Strapping Machine will tension and seal your plastic strapping in one movement and takes seconds. It is quick and efficient and most commonly used where there is high volume strapping/ bundling of goods - such as warehouse environments. Whilst there are wheels on the base of the machines - and so can be moved - they are not considered to be portable. For heavier bundles multiple straps are applied.