Sigma Stretch Film has opened a training center to help customers find the best solution to using the packaging films.
Sigma inaugurated the Packworx center the week of Sept. 22 at its giant Shelbyville, Ky., production plant. The center is equipped with laboratory testing instruments, seven stretch wrapping systems and other devices to help customers choose “the right film and the right settings,” according to Sigma Stretch national sales manager for Canada Brian K. Fraser in a phone interview. He estimated the setup cost about $300,000.
Fraser said the training center will demonstrate how to boost throughput, reduce per-pallet costs, improve effectiveness and address scrap. It can solve problems for inline pallet wrapping in large volume applications and for individual pallet wrapping systems as are used in distribution centers where specific pallets are pulled for wrapping as per customer orders.
“Whether you're a multinational conglomerate, a one-location manufacturer, or someone in between, you're losing an average of 0.58 percent of your total sales due to product damage sustained within your supply chain,” estimated Sigma Stretch Film President Bob Nocek in a company statement. “At the Packworx training facility, we can show how to use stretch film to significantly reduce damage and boost your profits.”
“What's on the pallet, how much it weighs, and how far it's being shipped all factor into the solution,” stated Sigma Stretch Film vice president of sales and marketing Bill Lenchinsky.
Sigma Stretch claims the training center is unique in North America. It occupies about 12,000 square feet in the 365,000-square-foot Shelbyville factory. In addition to its customer service role, the new center also trains Sigma Stretch's sales force.
The center evolved from Fraser's work three years ago to develop Rite-Gauging, a trademarked holistic approach to determining and meeting customer needs. That approach is the core to Sigma Stretch's work in the training center.
“We educate our customers on the science and engineering behind stretch film,” Lenchinsky explained.
The Shelbyville plant is one of five that Sigma Stretch runs in North America. The company is part of Sigma Plastics Group, which operates more than 40 manufacturing sites in North America and which logs sales of more than $2 billion annually.