Thin is in for films

There’s one trend fuelling developments in shrink and stretch film, and that is the drive to reduce microns, says Alex Begley, sales director of bpi.films. “Five years ago, the market was awash with 20-23 micron films. Now most companies are using 15-17 micron films and trail-blazing companies are looking at 12 micron films.

“We’ve even been asked if we can go thinner,” he says. “But it’s a marriage between the film’s performance, the machine’s capability and the load, so the trick is to make a film that is quite thin, performs well at speed and retains its load holding integrity.”

Predictably, films that tick all these boxes aren’t the cheapest on the market, but Mr Begley explains how they will afford cost savings in the long run: “If you swap a 20 micron film for our 17 micron film, you will buy about 10% less film per year because the roll will be the same size but you will get more film from it.”