Sealed Air 2007.jpg
Peter R. Beadle, a machine operator at Sealed Air in Holyoke in 2007. A new version of the product won't pop.
(DON TREEGER/ THE REPUBLICAN FILE)
HOLYOKE — Why ship air from Holyoke?
That's apparently the logic behind a new version of the iconic Bubble Wrap- brand packaging being introduced by Sealed Air, the company that originated the concept in 1960.
The new version is called iBubble Wrap. It's sold in flat plastic sheets that the user inflates with a custom-made pump, according to a story in the Wall Street Journal that appeared this week. This way, the shipping material is itself easier and cheaper to ship. Each sheet of uninflated wrap takes up 1/50 the space of an inflated sheet, the Wall Street Journal says.
No more trucking air around. No more taking up warehouse space at shipping facilities with what amounts to bags of air.
It apparently looks just like Bubble Wrap, the Journal says, but with one key difference of special note for nervous folks who are always looking for something to do with their hands: this Bubble Wrap won't pop.
The iBubble Wrap is made of columns of connected air pockets, so when someone presses on one bubble, the air just shifts to other bubbles.
Employees at the Sealed Air factory in Holyoke said Thursday that the new iBubble Warp will be made there. Sealed Air has about 100 employees at its plant at 2030 Homestead Ave.
The company also makes protection and packaging products for the medical and food industries as well as products for cleaning, hygiene and infection control in health care.