Semi Automatic Strapping Machines

This is the machine most packing benches in India actually need. An operator brings the carton to the table, pushes the strap round it, and the machine tensions, seals and cuts. One person, one machine, a carton every few seconds when the work is flowing.

It suits the volume where manual strapping with a buckle and a hand tool has stopped making sense but an inline machine cannot be justified - a corrugation unit, a printing press, a distribution godown, a food or spice packing unit, a workshop despatching a few pallets a day. It is also the machine most buyers keep when they later add an automatic one, because it takes the odd sizes and the rework that the automatic line will not.

Because the operator places the strap, the machine does not care much what shape the load is. A carton, a bundle of files, a stack of boards and a taped-up crate all go through the same machine without changing anything.

Choosing the right one

Table height is the first decision and it is about the operator, not the machine. A standard table height suits someone working on cartons that arrive at waist level. If your cartons are small and light and the operator is standing over them all day, the low table top model is the kinder choice and it takes less floor.

The second is strap width, which is set by the strap you already buy. Changing machine is easier than changing the strap your store has stocked, so tell us the width and we will quote for it.

The third is duty. A machine that runs in bursts through the day and a machine that runs continuously through a shift are built differently in the sealing head and the drive. Say honestly how hard it will be worked - a machine specified for lighter duty and then run all day is the most common reason a strapping head wears out early.

What this range will not do

A semi automatic machine will not keep up with a conveyor. If cartons are arriving faster than one person can lift and place them, the machine is not the bottleneck - the handling is - and the answer is the automatic range.

It does not strap a load where it stands. The load has to come to the table.

And it does not seal the carton. Strapping over unsealed flaps holds them shut only as long as the strap is tight; the carton still needs taping or gluing.