Filling the Void May 16, 2007 11:58 AM
, By Sam Flanders
JobZone
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Many different types of fill and void fill equipment have
been introduced over the past 20 years. Let's take a look at some of the
systems that have been around the longest, and proceeding to the most modern
systems commonly available.
Hand crumpled paper - Hand crumpled paper has been with us
as the original packing material, and it probably began with the invention of
newspaper. Today, companies provide flat sheets of craft paper in different
thicknesses; this paper can be crumpled and fit to fill a void. It is one of
the slowest of all void systems, but it can be used effectively to pack almost any
type of material. Like all paper solutions, the longer distance that your
packages travel, the more the paper will tend to matt down, and the less
protective capacity it will have.
Machine created paper pads - Paper pads were one of the
first automated paper solutions. Pads can be created to specific lengths and
can be filled to a reservoir or created on demand. If you have only a couple of
different shipping container sizes, pre-cut pads can work well. Pads can also
be used for variable sized boxes—you can throw in the pads as you would any
crumpled paper.
Continuous flow paper - Continuous stream paper is an
alternative to paper pads. Several different types of machines are now
available ranging from a single workstation system to very high-speed in-line
systems. A neat feature of continuous stream systems is that paper can be use
to wrap items as it is dispensed, and can also be directed to fill specific
voids in containers as it is dispensed.
Peanuts - Peanuts are terrific cushioning material. The problem
is that most customers hate the mess that they make, and some consumers don’t
like any type of non-biodegradable product. Styrofoam peanuts have superior
cushioning capacity and are very light. Peanuts can also be purchased that are
made of starch, but the starch peanuts have less cushioning capability and can
matt down more than Styrofoam, but they are 100% biodegradable. Also, starch
peanuts may get sticky in hot humid weather, so they may not be ideal if they
are stored for a long period of time, and they may create pest problems since
they are an edible material.
