So you’ve been given the task of bundling together a big pile of small boxes. Lets say shoe box size boxes, and lets that there are twenty of them. So there you are, surrounded by twenty shoe-box sized boxes, and you’ve got to get these boxes into some kind of manageable state because they have just been designated for shipment to a new storage facility. As if you weren’t lost in the task already, you’re superior has just informed you that you have six minutes to get these boxes in some kind of order. At this juncture it might be time to inform you that you are working alone in this task. That’s right, you have to somehow get twenty shoe-box shaped boxed into a transportable, storable state on your own, in virtually no time at all. But don’t worry, because I think I have the solution to you. In truth I could offer you several solutions, but one in particular stands out as the dynamic, economic and less wasteful solution. A strapping tool.
Strapping is a plastic or steel ribbon/tape that holds packages together through tension. A very rigid object can be made out of several boxes just a few strips of strapping tied around the pile in vertical and horizontal directions. Think of a classic christmas present with the ribbon that ties at the top into a pretty bow. Strapping doesn’t have a pretty bow (the strapping solders semi-invisibly) but it is the same principle. There are several ways to work with strapping from the semi-manual strap-cutters all the way up to the pneumatic-industrial strapping machines that wrap, pull, solder and then snip the strapping to a tension and to a timescale that no person could compete with.
So you can get your head around what tools are available and more importantly which one is right for you I have put together a list of the different types of strapping tools that are available. I will come clean right now and tell you that as someone who has had some experience with high-volume small-product packaging I am inclined to favor the hand held strapping machines, in a busy and dynamic factory environment they soon become your right hand.
The various types of strapping tools on the market right now range from snippers and leather gloves, to hand held devices and all the way up to large machines with conveyor belts and “keep clear” signs. Which of these you might need depends on the size of the bundles or pile of boxes you need to strap and how fast you need it done. Here are the main types of strapping tools you will want to consider:
Welders
A welder (or sealer) is a manual or hand held tool that does the job of snipping and tying the strapping together. Now they do not literally tie the strapping because strapping is hard, flat and fibrous and would not tie in a knot very well. Instead they use friction, heat, pinching, pinning or staples to fasten two ends of a strapping together. The friction and heat options require energy so usually come in the form of battery powered tools like the SIAT Digit Smart Welding. pinchers, staplers and pinners just require a good punch of brute force and products like the Siat SDN 25 (more information available on our website) typify these tools in that they are ergonomic, muscle-powered giant staplers.
The welder family do not pull the strapping tight while you are cutting and fastening it, which is a serious drawback if you are working on your own. In fact it is fairly impossible to get a good level of tention when you have to use both hands and all your strength to cut through a ribbon of steel or even PET plastic. In the family the battery powered tool is the preferable one as it only requires one hand, leaving the other free to keep some tention around the bundle.
Tensioners
If keeping tention is your priority, then tensioners are what you are after. Tensioners are battery or pneumatic powered, one-hand hand-held tools that do the job of tightening and then keeping tight the strapping ready for cutting and sealing. Like the problem that welders get themselves into when you loose tension when you release your grip to seal the strapping, tensioners are tricky when you have to, with one hand, snip and then seal the strapping ribbon that may very well be pulled tight into the bundle. It is virtually imposible and I for safety reasons I would advise against anyone using a tensioner and a separate welding/snipping system on their own. You do not have enough hands. For a team of two then tensioners can make up one half of a text-book buddy system, a regular chuckle brothers routine, but that is not the circumstance I am focusing on. In a team of one, tensioners are a ceaseless headache.
Combination Tools
Combination tools take the welding and snipping automation of the battery or pneumatic powered welding tool, and incorporate it with the pulling-snug of the tensioner. This means that with one hand, at the press of a button, a button that I might add is ergonomically placed right where it wants to be, you are tightening, then snipping and then welding tight a length of trapping around a bundle. If you get a chance to check out the Digit Smart LXT that is currently featured on our homepage you will get a sense of these machines. They battery powered ones are great fun to use. They are reassuringly heavy, surprisingly powerful and intuitive in the way that really makes you feel comfortable and confident with your task. Any power tool user who has some experience with the broad array of products in the price range will know exactly what it feels like to work with a tool that weighs what it should weigh and make the right amount of noise as the tension increases.
Combination tools are the safest and quickest of the three available options. Combination tools, and battery powered ones specifically, are the only real option if the packer is working alone, or at the end of a production line.
