L-bar sealers, side bar sealers, sleeve sealers and shrink tunnels for shrink wrapping your products in South Africa. For flow wrap and pallet wrapping as well as shrink wrap, see wrapping machines.
Pack size, line speed, budget and how much automation you want decide it. A single product or small multipack on a limited budget suits an L-bar sealer, run semi-automatically. Longer products or higher output suit a side bar sealer, which seals continuously without an operator positioning each pack. Bottles, jars and bundles that need both a seal and a tight shrink finish suit a sleeve sealer and shrink tunnel in one machine. If you already seal elsewhere and only need the heat-shrink stage, a standalone shrink tunnel is the cheaper add-on.
The application decides the sealer, and the sealer decides the machine. This table is the short version of the guidance above.
| Application | Typical products | Machine that suits it |
|---|---|---|
| Single boxed or trayed products | Cosmetics, books, food trays, electronics, boxed hardware | L-bar sealer with shrink tunnel |
| Long or variable-length products | Curtain rails, pipes, posters, cables, mixed household sizes | Side bar sealer with shrink tunnel |
| Bottle and can multipacks | Water, soft drinks, beer, dairy bottles, detergent bottles | Sleeve sealer and shrink tunnel |
| Bundles and export loads | Cartons, spare parts, palletised loads in heavier film | Sleeve sealer and shrink tunnel |
A semi-automatic shrink wrap machine leaves loading to an operator and does the sealing and shrinking itself. It suits steady retail and multipack volumes on a lower budget than a fully automatic line, and it changes between pack sizes easily.
In our range, the semi-automatic (semi-auto) shrink wrap machines are the L-bar sealer and the sleeve sealer:
Side bar sealers and standalone shrink tunnels in our range are automatic, and L-bar sealers are also supplied as manual or fully automatic machines. Real output for a semi-automatic shrink wrapper is confirmed on a trial with your product at our Riversands showroom.
See it running
Shrink wrap machines from the range running: an L-bar sealer, a side bar sealer, a sleeve sealer with tunnel and a standalone shrink tunnel. Book a visit to see them in person at our Riversands showroom in Johannesburg.
A heated L-shaped bar seals and trims two sides of the pack in one stroke, then the tunnel shrinks the film tight around it. It suits single products, boxes and printed cartons at low to moderate volumes.
The side bar seals along the length of the pack as it moves through, so pack length is not limited by the size of a bar. It runs continuously and suits mixed pack sizes and higher output.
Film wraps around the pack as a sleeve, the ends stay open, and the built-in tunnel shrinks the film tight. This is the standard set-up for bundling bottles, cans and jars into multipacks.
The tunnel circulates hot air so sealed film pulls tight around the product. It runs after any sealer and is fitted inline where a line already seals its own packs.
A shrink wrap machine seals a product in plastic film, then applies heat so the film pulls tight around it. The result is a secure, tamper-evident pack with a clean, retail-ready finish. The machines above cover the ways to get there: L-bar or side bar sealing to form the pack, sleeve sealing with a built-in tunnel to do both stages at once, or a standalone tunnel to add to a line that already seals.
A shrink wrapping machine is the same equipment under its other common name, so a search for a shrink wrapper, a heat shrink machine or shrink wrap equipment is a search for one of the machines above.
Almost any solid or packaged product can be shrink wrapped. What changes between industries is not whether shrink wrap works but which machine does the job.
Bottled water, soft drinks, beer and canned drinks in six-packs, twelve-packs and trays. Read more: how bottles are shrink wrapped.
Bakery, frozen food, ready meals, fresh produce, biscuits and snacks, wrapped singly or as retail multipacks. Read more: shrink wrap machines for food packaging.
Frozen meat in trays, whole chickens and biltong in food-grade film, plus cheese, butter and yoghurt multipacks run at a lower tunnel setting because they are chilled. Machine setup: meat wrapping machine. Read more: how to shrink wrap meat and poultry.
Dishwashing liquid, detergent, bleach and sprays, wrapped singly against leaks or bundled into promotional multipacks. Read more: how household and cleaning products are shrink wrapped.
Shampoo, skincare, perfume boxes and gift sets, wrapped in clear film for tamper evidence. Read more: how cosmetic products are shrink wrapped.
Medicine bottles, blister-pack cartons and medical devices, where the film shows the pack has not been opened. Read more: shrink wrap packaging for pharmaceutical products.
Chargers, cables and accessories, with the film applied over the printed carton rather than the device. Read more: shrink wrap machines for electronics.
Books, stationery, board games, toys and multi-buy promotions. Read more: shrink wrap for toys and gift packs.
Spare parts, grinding discs, building materials and export cartons, usually in heavier film. Read more: shrink wrap for industrial components.
Cartons, mixed loads and stored stock bundled or enclosed against dust. Read more: shrink wrap machines for pallets. To stretch-wrap a pallet in film instead, see the pallet wrapping machine.
Buying
We supply shrink wrap machines configured to suit your product, packaging requirements and production needs. Each machine is customised and prepared at our workshop in Riversands, Johannesburg before delivery and commissioning across South Africa and into neighbouring SADC markets. A quotation is put together from the product and the pack size, the output you need per hour, the pack format, and how much of the cycle you want automated. Send us those and we specify the machine to suit them rather than quoting a machine off a shelf.
Every shrink wrap machine we supply is installed and commissioned by our own technicians, carries a one-year warranty and can be CE marked on request, with spares held in Johannesburg. Operator training is done on site at handover. If you want to understand what makes one machine cost more than another before you enquire, the shrink wrap machine cost guide explains what moves the figure, and how to choose a shrink wrap machine works through speed, size and automation.
Our PDF catalogue has images and specification tables for the shrink wrap machines on this page and the rest of our range. Complete the short form and it opens straight away.
It depends on pack size, speed and automation. An L-bar sealer with shrink tunnel suits single packs, boxes and small multipacks, and is supplied as a manual, semi-automatic or automatic machine. Side bar sealer and shrink suits longer products at higher output. Sleeve sealer and shrink tunnel suits bottles, jars and bundles needing both a seal and a tight finish. A standalone shrink tunnel adds the heat-shrink stage to a line that already seals.
An L-bar sealer seals and trims two sides of each pack in one stroke of a heated L-shaped bar, so it works pack by pack, with the operator loading product unless an automatic infeed is fitted. A side bar sealer seals continuously down one side of the film, which suits longer products and higher line speeds without positioning each pack by hand.
Yes, if you want the film shrunk. An L-bar sealer seals and trims the film; a shrink tunnel then applies the heat that pulls it tight. Most customers buy the L-bar sealer with a matched electric shrink tunnel, and the sealer can also be supplied alone to feed a tunnel you already run.
A sleeve sealer and shrink tunnel is built for bundling bottles, jars and multipacks in one pass. An L-bar sealer with shrink tunnel also handles small multipacks and retail-ready boxes where output is lower.
Side bar sealing, sleeve sealing and standalone shrink tunnels in our range are automatic. L-bar sealers are supplied as manual, semi-automatic or fully automatic machines, the automatic version with an infeed conveyor and automatic film feed so the operator only loads product. Tell us your target output and we will confirm which fits.
Yes. Book a visit to our showroom at Riversands in Johannesburg and send us a sample of your product beforehand, so we can trial-wrap it and you can see the film, the seal and the finished pack before you decide. Our own technicians install and commission the machine and train your operators on site, and spares are held in Johannesburg, so support is close at hand for Gauteng buyers and we deliver across South Africa.
