TAB Industries earns patent for pallet

May 30—Perhaps no one has been impacted quite as dramatically by watching a baling machine wrap plastic around hay as Tom Brizek was, one day in 2008.

Observing how the machine spread plastic 360 degrees around the bales sparked an idea — with his metal fabrication company quickly growing, Brizek wondered if he could apply a similar all-around wrapping technology to streamline his own packing process.

It didn't take long for Brizek and his business, TAB Industries, to turn that idea into an innovation. In 2009, TAB put the first Wrapper Tornado to use at its fabrication facility.

By dispensing stretch wrap from a circular ring rotating around a horizontal axis, TAB's Tornado orbital wrapper envelops 360 degrees, around and under a pallet of products.

The wrapper secures the pallet, allowing for safe storage and transport without the need for boxes, banding, strapping, or overpacking, according to TAB.

The product soon became the envy of TAB's customers, so Brizek decided to make it available to all, establishing the Wrapper Tornado division of TAB Industries in 2011 to build and distribute the machine.

A decade later, TAB's invention was officially recognized by the U.S. government. In June 2021, TAB was granted a patent for the Wrapper Tornado line of orbital wrappers.

The patent credits the invention to Brizek, TAB president and CEO, along with his son, Andrew Brizek, vice president of sales and marketing.

The patent notes that by applying compression and lateral forces to the pallet load, the wrapper solves a key shortcoming of turntable wrappers, preventing loads from sliding off the pallet and adding protection from damage in transit.

In a brochure on the company's website, TAB notes that the wrapper reduced instances of products being damaged and rendered defective, meaning fewer rejected orders.

TAB also says its product eliminates the old manual wrapping process, where workers would risk injury by wrapping the pallets by hand.

The company claims its Wrapper Tornado line reduces wrapping times from two to three minutes, to about 60 seconds, and can save companies more than $25,000 in annual labor costs.

The wrapper comes in a variety of sizes and is offered with semi-automated controls, in addition to a fully automated option that can be customized with optional accessories.

TAB is seeing high demand for the wrappers in the US and Canada, although the product has been sold internationally, company representatives said.

The company was founded in 2005 and operates a 44,000-square-foot facility in Reading.

TAB still offers its original metal fabrication, laser cutting, welding, and related metalworking services, in addition to the Wrapper Tornado line.

Its clients include growing small businesses, as well as globally recognized companies like Target, Walgreens, Volvo, and Mack Truck, according to TAB's website.