Banding is one of the most effective packaging solutions widely used across industries including food, beverages, and pharmaceuticals sector. Although there are other types of strapping products available on the market, steel strapping has continued to grow due to its sustainability and the ability to generate a positive ROI in product packaging.
There are three types of steel straps, and they include stainless steel straps, carbon steel and the fully galvanized steel banding. Their tensile strengths mainly differentiate them, and their application will depend on various factors including packaging cost and the nature of the product being secured.
For instance, high tensile metal strapping made using carbon alloys are hard, forming brittle surfaces that are very difficult to cut, weld or bend. This kind of strap is ideal for heavy-duty uses such as banding heavy steel coils, trailer loading, cutting edges and bundling compressed fiber bales.
Galvanized steel banding, on the other hand, is a useful packaging solution widely used in the construction sector to unitize other kinds of metal, coils, bailing wire and bricks. This strap is dipped into zinc bath to create a rusting resistant kind of steel. However, fully galvanized steel banding does not elongate, and this might be an issue for certain kinds of products. As such, it’s important to have additional strapping just in case you need more.
The third and the most conventional form of strapping is the stainless steel banding material. However, it’s different from the traditional steel due to the addition of metal alloys such as chromium. Such alloy help to strengthen steel and give it a corrosion resistant property. The only downside to using stainless steel strapping is lack of elasticity, meaning there is no way possible to stretch the material should you run low on the strap.
Over the years, the strapping industry has continued to experience innovations that have significantly reduce the use of carbon contents in treating steel. Instead, the focus is on producing fully galvanized steel banding that guarantees long strapping service.
When choosing the strapping material for your packaging needs, you’ll want first to understand the options you have. Then, get to know the strengths and weaknesses of each strapping material before making your decision. Even with other cheap packaging options, banding technology can prove to be a good investment and may be of great value to your business.