Key Takeaways
Industrial parts and equipment are shrink wrapped in two different ways. Small and medium components, spare parts, kits and long profiles are wrapped on a packaging machine: an L-bar sealer with a shrink tunnel for boxed or bagged parts, a side bar sealer for long items such as pipes, rails and profiles, and a sleeve sealer for bundles. Large machinery and assemblies are covered by hand in heavy-duty industrial shrink wrap, a polyethylene film shrunk with a heat gun and often UV-stabilised or treated to prevent corrosion. Both keep out moisture, dust and transit damage. Compare the machines on the shrink wrap machines page.
The machines that wrap parts, kits, profiles and bundles: L-bar sealer, side bar sealer, sleeve sealer and shrink tunnel.
Industrial parts and components are shrink wrapped on a packaging machine, which wraps each item or bundle in film and shrinks it in a tunnel. Boxed or bagged parts, spare-part kits and items such as grinding discs run on an L-bar sealer and shrink wrap machine. Long items such as pipes, curtain rails and profiles run on a side bar sealer, which seals continuously down one side so length is not limited. Cartons and bundles of components run on a sleeve sealer and shrink tunnel. The wrap keeps dust, moisture and scratches off the part, holds kits together and leaves labels readable through the film.
Large machinery and assemblies are shrink wrapped by hand on site rather than on a packaging machine. Heavy-duty polyethylene film is draped or wrapped around the equipment, seams are reinforced, and the film is shrunk tight with an industrial heat gun. Vents can be added so condensation can escape, and zip access doors let the equipment be inspected without cutting the wrap. Motors, pumps, machine assemblies and marine equipment are covered this way for storage or transport, and heavy export loads are covered in shrink wrapping products for export.
Industrial shrink film is heavier than retail film, and the right one depends on the load and where it will be kept. Thicker polyethylene, measured in microns, resists punctures and suits heavy or sharp parts. UV-stabilised film stops the wrap breaking down in the sun during outdoor storage. VCI film releases a vapour that protects bare metal from rust. Colour is a choice too: clear film lets parts be inspected through the wrap, white film reflects heat and keeps covered equipment cooler, and blue film makes wrapped items easy to identify on site.
Shrink wrap helps stop rust by keeping moisture off metal parts, and VCI shrink film goes further by releasing a corrosion-inhibiting vapour inside the wrap. The part must be clean and dry before it is wrapped, because moisture trapped under the film causes the corrosion the wrap is meant to prevent. On large equipment, vents let condensation escape.
Industrial parts and components are wrapped on an L-bar, side bar or sleeve sealer, while large equipment is covered by hand in heavy-duty film with a heat gun, in a film chosen for weight, UV exposure and rust protection. Send us your parts, their sizes and your volume, and we will specify the machine. Compare all four machines on the shrink wrap machines page, and see can you shrink wrap a pallet? for palletised loads.
Months, and longer where the film is thick enough and UV-stabilised for the conditions. How long it lasts depends on the film thickness, sun exposure, handling and whether the component was clean and dry when it was wrapped.
Most industrial shrink wrap is polyethylene, which is recyclable where local facilities accept it. Confirm the film specification with your supplier, particularly for coloured or VCI films.
Not usually. An L-bar sealer wraps parts that fit inside its sealing frame, while long items such as pipes and profiles need a side bar sealer, which seals continuously so the length is not limited.
Send us your parts, their sizes and your volume, and we will specify the shrink wrap machine that suits them, with installation by our own technicians, a one-year warranty, CE marking on request and spares held in Johannesburg. You can also send samples and we will trial-wrap them at our Johannesburg showroom before you buy.
