A low-profile powered conveyor and automated stretch wrapper combination has optimized Grandstand’s wrapping of variable pallets, accommodating a 30% increase in volume without adding more workers—and still provides additional capacity for future growth.

Grandstand Glassware and Apparel is in a specialized business: it prints logos and other brand messaging on glassware and apparel for restaurants, bars and other brand-conscious companies and organizations. As a result, it has a large volume of different products to handle, finish and ship. Quantities for individual customers can range from a few cases to multiple pallet loads.

Grandstand’s business has increased dramatically in recent years with the rise of craft beer popularity, as well as the increasing awareness of eating and drinking establishments that they need to create and promote a brand identity.

The company’s extensive experience with beers and wines has also brought it expertise in which glass styles work best with which beverages, enhancing aromas and tastes. This ability allows it to advise customers about which glasses to choose, along with how to best project their brand images.

Grandstand works closely with its customers to recommend and/or design branding, glasses, matching apparel, coasters and more. It is a single-source for the materials it decorates, buying the apparel and glass and on occasion creating the molds for unique glassware its vendors then make.

As business has increased, moving an increasing volume of product in varying load sizes began to be a challenge for Grandstand’s existing material handling capability.

“Our previous methods of handling pallet loads depended on their size,” says Dave Hixson, Grandstand’s supply chain director. “A partial-pallet multi-case load might be wrapped by hand, while a full pallet load would be wrapped on a stretch wrapping system. But both operations were time-intensive and needed to be replaced by a more automated system.”

Read more: Glassware manufacturer wraps small, large and mixed pallets on a single, expandable system