How Can A Stretch Wrapper Help Me Reduce Product Theft?

Kudos to Lantech (www.Lantech.com) for allowing Canadian Packaging to reproduce this article written by Lantech from their blog.

Okay, we all know the value of a stretch wrapper in a business sense. It keeps things together, it protects items from moisture, it minimizes breakage because everything is sealed tightly together, it keeps dirt and dust off of the products being shipped, and the list can go on and on about the superior benefits of using stretch wrap for packaging.

However, what many businesses don’t realize is that a stretch wrapper can also prevent theft of the items that are wrapped, particularly when they are on a pallet. And here’s why.

Won’t Steal What They Can’t See

Crooks are smart, and they only want products they can use for themselves or re-sell. They also need to get things done as soon as possible, so the longer they are in the process of doing something illegal, the less chance that they will even try.

Now, whenever a stretch wrapper is used to wrap up products, especially if opaque stretch wrap is being used, once wrapped you cannot see what is behind it. If no one can see what it is, why would anyone want to steal it? They wouldn’t.

No thief is going to take a chance on stealing something off a pallet if they don’t know what it is. Even if they attempt to cut the stretch wrap open, that takes too much time for minimal gain, particularly if they slice open stretch wrap and find something totally unusable like napkins, plastic cups, or virtually any other disposable consumer-type goods.

Unless someone can see what is on a pallet and they know exactly what it is, the chances of them wasting their time, and jail time if they get caught, by trying to find out what is behind the stretch wrapper, isn’t worth the trouble.

Time is of the Essence

Thieves do like not like to waste time. They essentially want to grab and go, the less time spent creating the crime, the better their chances of escape without being caught. You can look at virtually any surveillance video, and in every case, the lawbreaker gets in and out as fast as they can. They don’t stop for a cup of coffee and donuts, they don’t hang around and talk to employees, they run in, steal what they want and run out. That in-and-out mentality also works around stretch wrapped items too.
Any item or items that are not stretched wrapped together are easy pickings. A thief can, literally, grab and go and be out of there in seconds with individual items that are not stretch wrapped. But consider this.

If you have a stretch wrapped unitized pallet load sitting out in the open somewhere, not only can’t a criminal see what is actually wrapped up, but the stretch wrapping makes it impossible to grab and go. That means every bad guy is going to think twice about even attempting to steal something securely stretch wrapped.

Consider what they actually have to do. Firstly, they have to cut a hole in the wrap to find out exactly what it is. Secondly, if they actually cut a hole through the wrap and identify the product, they now have to cut a larger hole through to get the product out. Thirdly, if they want to maximize their effort, they will have to cut an even larger hole so that they can steal more than one product.

Now, how much time do you think this entire procedure might take? The bottom line here is that for a crook it takes too long. This is no grab and go operation, this is a time wasting hassle that may or may not even be worth the trouble. No one is going to stand around hacking and cutting through stretch wrap, taking a lot of time and not even being sure what it is they are after, with the possibility that someone may come along and identify them. That’s not good business, even for a thief, and they would much rather strike at easier prey or forget it altogether.

The Intangibles
Using opaque or tinted stretch wrap allows you to see if the load has been taken apart and/or reassembled, and because stretch wrap keeps everything in place, nothing will fall off the load to make it easy to just pick-up and take. Add these intangibles in and you have a winner.

The Anti-Theft Answer is Stretch Wrap
Can any product like stretch wrap guarantee that there won’t be any theft? Of course not, but by taking away the main factors for stealing, like knowing what the product is, keeping a load unitized and intact, and grabbing and going, you’ll limit the possibility that anyone would want to steal something that has been stretch wrapped, and that’s as good as it gets in anti-theft.
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Readers may also be interested in Lantech’s Automatic Stretch Wrapper Guide available for download at: http://offers.lantech.com/guide-to-buying-an-automatic-stretch-wrapper.

About Lantech:
In 1972, Lantech LLC invented the stretchwrapper and changed the way the world packages and protects its goods as they move about the planet. Now, billions of pallet loads are stretch wrapped are every year.
Although Lantech has expanded its product line with case erectors and sealers, its mission remains the same—to help customers ship their products so they reach their destinations in the same condition they were in when they left—and at the lowest cost.
For more information, visit www.Lantech.com or call Kelly Wathen at 502-815-9265.