A method of controlling a load wrapping apparatus of the type configured to wrap a load on a load support with packaging material dispensed from a packaging material dispenser through relative rotation between the packaging material dispenser and the load support, the method comprises: maintaining a mapping of load containment forces to corresponding wrap forces and numbers of layers of packaging material; receiving first input data associated with a load containment force requirement to be used when wrapping the load with packaging material; the method is characterized by the steps of: accessing the mapping based upon the first input data to determine a corresponding wrap force parameter and a corresponding layer parameter for the load containment force requirement, the layer parameter specifying a minimum number of layers of packaging material to apply throughout a contiguous region of the load; receiving second input data associated with an axial load variability for the load which refers to variability in the load generally along the axis of rotation of the packaging material dispenser relative to the load, and third input data associated with irregularity in one or more vertical sides of the load, the third input data selecting between a first option of a load having uniform sides and a second option of a load having one or more irregular sides; configuring a wrap profile to reduce a corresponding wrap force while still meeting the load containment force requirement in response to the third input data selecting the second option; and controlling a dispense rate of the packaging material dispenser during the relative rotation based on the determined corresponding wrap force and layer parameters for the load containment force requirement. maintaining a mapping of load containment forces to corresponding wrap forces and numbers of layers of packaging material; receiving first input data associated with a load containment force requirement to be used when wrapping the load with packaging material; the method is characterized by the steps of: accessing the mapping based upon the first input data to determine a corresponding wrap force parameter and a corresponding layer parameter for the load containment force requirement, the layer parameter specifying a minimum number of layers of packaging material to apply throughout a contiguous region of the load; receiving second input data associated with an axial load variability for the load which refers to variability in the load generally along the axis of rotation of the packaging material dispenser relative to the load, and third input data associated with irregularity in one or more vertical sides of the load, the third input data selecting between a first option of a load having uniform sides and a second option of a load having one or more irregular sides; configuring a wrap profile to reduce a corresponding wrap force while still meeting the load containment force requirement in response to the third input data selecting the second option; and controlling a dispense rate of the packaging material dispenser during the relative rotation based on the determined corresponding wrap force and layer parameters for the load containment force requirement. accessing the mapping based upon the first input data to determine a corresponding wrap force parameter and a corresponding layer parameter for the load containment force requirement, the layer parameter specifying a minimum number of layers of packaging material to apply throughout a contiguous region of the load; receiving second input data associated with an axial load variability for the load which refers to variability in the load generally along the axis of rotation of the packaging material dispenser relative to the load, and third input data associated with irregularity in one or more vertical sides of the load, the third input data selecting between a first option of a load having uniform sides and a second option of a load having one or more irregular sides; configuring a wrap profile to reduce a corresponding wrap force while still meeting the load containment force requirement in response to the third input data selecting the second option; and controlling a dispense rate of the packaging material dispenser during the relative rotation based on the determined corresponding wrap force and layer parameters for the load containment force requirement.