What is the difference between Hand and Machine Stretch Film?

Hand stretch film is used with manual stretch wrappers that use the power of the operator. The operator stretches the film using breaking handle on the wrapper while walking around the pallet. Hand wrapping is typically designed for

1. Those who unitize less than 10 pallets per day
2. Have decentralized warehousing or need a backup to powered stretch equipment.

Machine stretch film is used with powered stretch equipment. There are several different types of powered stretch equipment available today. The most common is the rotary spiral or turntable pre-stretch machines. The rotary spiral or turntable pre-stretch machines wrap the pallet load in a spiral fashion using film widths of 20″ or 30″.  Rotary Spiral Pre-Stretch is the most popular means of applying stretch film today and is the most widely used type of stretch film equipment.

Pre-stretch isolates the film from the load, thereby enabling the film to be used at much higher performance levels than conventional rotary stretch equipment. In conventional rotary stretch wrapping the turntable is pulling the film against a breaking force on the roll. With pre-stretch the stretching takes place either between two geared rollers or one powered and one driven roller . This provides greater and more uniform stretch, less neckdown and enables the operator to adjust the force of the load.