You are here: Unusual Applications Highlight Tear Tape Versatility
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Issue Date: March 2010
A number of tear tape applications for unusually-shaped products has highlighted Payne’s ability to deliver easy opening solutions whatever the pack design.
Payne tear tape is used worldwide to provide convenient, fast access to flow or roll-wrapped products in a number of markets. Commonly, such products retail in standardised shapes yet, as Michael Love, Category Manager at Payne points out, tear tape can also meet more unusual challenges.
“Tear tape is applied in-line during the manufacturing process, which means that the shape of the pack offers no hindrance to application. This means that the benefits of tear tape – which include easy opening, branding and communications, and pack security – can be enjoyed whatever the packaging shape.”
Bottles are one common format where tear tape can make a difference. Many brands add a tamper evident shrink sleeve film across the bottle top, and tear tape can provide a highly visible means of identifying how to remove this safely and quickly. When combined with a printed message, the tear tape can also complement the overall pack design to reinforce branding at the point of opening.
Other different packs where tear tape can easily and effectively be integrated include stock cubes, soup pouches, drinking straws or pet food sacks. In all cases, using tear tape results in safer, cleaner access to the product. “For many retail packs, a hastily opened pack can lead to spilt or damaged contents,” explains Mike Love. “Tear tape ensures that the point of opening is along the direction of the tape, giving brand owners and consumers confidence that packs will open correctly and the product will be easily accessible.”
An additional benefit is that tear tape removes the risks associated with using knives or scissors to open packs – a threat not just to the consumer in terms of cuts and injuries, but damage to the product itself. Payne cites the example of cardboard boxes used to package expensive consumer goods, which can be tricky to open. The use of Rippatape (Payne’s specialist solution for the board market) around the base of the box allows the box to be simply lifted from the base to minimise the risk of damage.
None of these benefits are just confined to familiar pack types. An application recently occurred in Asia, where Payne tear tape was selected by two manufacturers of rice-based delicacies which are triangular-shaped and wrapped in plastic packaging to maintain the product freshness. These were proving difficult for the consumer to open; however by applying tear tape to the packs this problem was overcome. Payne’s team worked with each manufacturer to ensure the correct application of its Supastrip tear tape during the production process thereby delivering quick, easy and controlled access to the rice-based delicacy for the consumer.
Payne is also finding interest from companies who are using conventional pack types for products not typically packaged in them. For example, a Central American bandage manufacturer has added tear tape for shrink-wrapped packs, making its packaging extremely easy to open, a vital consideration for fast and effective first aid.
The manufacturer wanted the bandages to be available instantly and without hesitation but consumers found that in the past the product was tricky and often difficult to open without the use of scissors or knives, something that can be both time-consuming and potentially dangerous.
Tear tape was found to be the perfect solution to enable the bandages to be unwrapped quickly and safely, and Payne provided the customer with a 1.6mm wide red tear tape that is easy to locate on-pack, while complementing the overall brand image and traditional pack design. The tape is supplied in 36km reels, in order to reduce the amount of downtime caused by reel changeovers.
“Oddly-shaped packs or unfamiliar pack concepts can be the most difficult for consumers to handle, which makes easy opening a particularly useful means of adding brand value,” confirms Mike Love. “Tear tape ensures a highly visible and tactile means of accessing pack contents while reinforcing brand objectives or pack security and our teams work hard with manufacturers to ensure easy and effective integration into the product manufacture.”
