Well, maybe that number is a little high since a portion of you are current customers. But if you’re not a FlexPAC customer, the odds you’ve seen the first product are low and almost zero that you’ve seen the second product highlighted here.

These products are very new but both have already helped customers win by not only saving money but also increasing their sustainability. Which if your employer (or even your top customers) mandates sustainability be a priority, you know first-hand that cost savings and sustainability rarely go together.

Right or wrong, I haven’t bought into promoting stretch film analysis as much as FlexPAC might have liked. I’ll go over what a stretch film analysis is and why you should do it in a later post. In short though, it’s the only way to measure containment (stretch film’s sole purpose) and the cost to wrap a pallet down to the penny.

Well, this new “fiber” film is changing my mind. It’s a 40 gauge film but with fibers or strands of 300 gauge film running through it. These fibers really help the film stand out on heavy or sharp loads. The tests I’ve done over the past few weeks have shown a 40-60% reduction in the amount of film used. Not only that, but we’re able to reduce the number of revolutions and shorten the wrap time which means less time your operators are standing around waiting for the wrapper to finish.

To be fair, there are areas where this film may not be a great fit. (Though that’s not to say a proper stretch film test cannot still provide similar results.) If you only buy a few rolls of film at a time, have a very basic wrapper, or very light pallet loads - this Marathon 250 film may not be the best stretch wrap for you.

So we’ve talked about one of the last packaging steps in stretch film. Let’s dive into the actual packing process

FlexPAC has recently partnered to be the exclusive distributor introducing Free-B’s to the market. This is an “in-the-box” packaging. Heavier than a true void fill like “shooter” paper or air pillows but with multiple benefits over other options like foam-in-place (ie. instapak), bubble-on-demand, and even paper pads in certain applications.

As opposed to an adhesive which sticks to anything, a cohesive sticks to itself only. The B’s are coated with a cohesive and a machine curls them inwards onto itself. When used, the B’s are somewhat jumbled together so that you get a perfect combination of cushioning and blocking/bracing. What I think might be the most impressive part is seen during the unboxing - during transit, the vibrations cause the B’s to mold together and hold shape to the point that it’s easy to return products with the original packaging. Very much like foam-in-place.

If you’re wondering, the cohesive will not rub off on your product nor will it melt in high temperatures.

#1) Sustainability. Foam-in-place and bubble-on-demand products are inherently bad for the environment. The B’s could replace them with equivalent or superior protection levels.

#2) Cost savings. Especially with the rapid hefty increases in 2026 on bubble-on-demand & foam-in-place, B’s will likely offer a material cost savings.

#3) Superior Protection. Unlike bubble (which can burst) or foam (which will not “rebound”), the B’s are designed to take multiple impacts with no detriment to the level of product protection.

#4) Labor Savings. Regardless of the competitive product, the B’s compare favorably. It’s one SKU with no need for complicated pack configurations or waiting time for the product to activate. Many projects we’ve worked to date have shown the B’s provide faster pack times.

Of course! Quantifying and validating any new product or process is part of how I go to market. With any in-the-box packaging, it’s a relatively simply process. First, we measure your current state - time spent packing and the amount of material used. With the amount of material used, it’s easy to back into the material cost. Then we do the same with the B’s. To validate the protection level, third party tests are available. The only “iffy” part is sustainability. Each company weighs it differently. Another factor is EPR (more to come) which is relatively new and ever changing. I’ll share more info on EPR in a later newsletter but you can dig into it here.

If you have questions, want to learn more, or maybe you’re want to do some testing - reach out! You can reply to this email, book a conversation here, or reach out to me at the info below.

(812)244-9393 & [email protected]

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