Film over wrapping is a traditional form of packaging consisting of wrapping a piece of film or paper around a product, or collation of products and sealing it with diamond point end folds. It is also known as tuck and fold wrapping and produces the same appearance as if the product were wrapped by hand. This is why over wrapping is appealing for the perfumes and confectionery industries, where many of the products purchased are sold to be given as gifts. Unlike shrinkwrapping, where a larger than required piece of film is placed around a product and then shrunk, exactly the right sized piece of film is cut to length and sealed in only the places where heat is required on the end folds and the longitudinal seal. This means that an over wrapper typically uses two or three kilowatts of energy compared to a shrink wrapper and heat shrink tunnel combination which can consume many tens of kilowatts of electricity. An added benefit is that over wrapping film, typically polypropylene, is less expensive than shrinkable polyolefin.
