If you are ready to invest in packaging machinery now, that’s great. But once you start collecting several suppliers through various channels, each supplier starts asking a series of questions. You have to go back in-house and attempt to collect all the answers before you can communicate with them. This often takes a week or several weeks.
As we all know, packaging machines are usually not off-the-shelf, but customized to meet customer requirements. Therefore, the packaging machine manufacturer needs to know the very specific details of your project in order to provide the most accurate advice and pricing.
Here, let’s take a look at the key parameters that determine the type selection of packaging machine.
- What is the physical property of the material to be packed?
- What is the type of the filled container?
- If it is a flexible bag, what is the design style?
- What is the package weight or unit of measurement?
- What are the requirements for packaging speed?
What is the physical property of the material to be packed?
- Bulk density of materials: also known as loose density. It means the weight per unit volume in the stacking state.
- Material fineness: that is, the number of meshes in an area of 1”x1” where the material can pass through
- Material fluidity: angle of repose is the easiest way to test the fluidity of powder. The smaller the angle of repose, the smaller the friction and the better the fluidity
What is the type of the filled container?
Whether it is preformed bag, roll filmed bag or various cans; each packaging machine is designed for different packaging requirements.
- Pre-formed flexible bag
It refers to the filling and sealing of formed bags. Generally speaking, the cost of each pre-formed bag is higher, but it provides a more advanced finished appearance.
At the initial stage, it can be sealed with sewing machine; heat sealing machine. This is suitable for low production capacity requirements. Labor participation is required in the whole process and the operation is skilled.
If the production capacity is to be increased, the bag feeding device shall be equipped to pick up and open bag automatically for product filling.
Bag size: for flat bags, width and length are required. For bags with gusset or stand-up bag, width, length and depth are required. All these decide the size of the auger screw tools.
- Filmed bag
Roll film bag refers to the bag formed in a large roll of plastic film (called roll material). It is the most economical choice.
It can have packaging production at high speed and automated filling is done.
The size of the roll film determines pouch former.
- Container
Usually, we mean packaging container with fixed shape, such as can, tin, jar, bottle and more.
This packaging design is convenient for transportation and storage. For example, can is the most popular filling object in the milk powder industry. Can filling for baby milk powder is a common application you can see in the market.
The size of the container determines the design for can positioner, can guide system and other auxiliary equipment, such as can sealer, capping machine, etc
If it is a flexible bag, what is the design style?
With different tools and molds, both prefabricated bags and roll film bags can realize their own distinctive packaging bag forms. The most common are listed below.
- Stick packs
It is a very narrow bag for mixing drinks like a single service
- Pillow bags
It is the most widely used and economical packaging form, including two flat plate seals at the top and bottom and vertical seal on the back. Think of potato chip bags or small packets of coffee found in hotel rooms
- Doypack
It has support structure at the bottom. It does not rely on any support and can stand on its own regardless of whether the bag is opened or not. This kind of high-grade bag is more and more popular with special food.
- Quad seal bags
It provides a more structured bag and modular appearance. Quad sealed bags often appear in the high-level area of the coffee aisle.
- Flat bottom bags
It can have a back or corner seal for full front and back graphics. Flexible options include valve, tear notch, corner seals and more.
- Gusseted bags
It is a bag with gussets providing more internal space.。
- Three/four side seal bags
It is flat bag sealed on three/four sides
- Sachets
It is flat 4-sided sealed packet. It is commonly used for small single service pack like sugar.
What is the package weight or unit of measurement?
How heavy is your package for powder or granular products?
The unit of measurement can be metric units, such as kilograms and grams, or British units, such as ounces, pounds, etc
What are the requirements for packaging speed?
The speed of the packaging machine indicates how many bags the equipment can finish in a certain time. Usually it is expressed in bags per minute (BPM). The speed of the packaging machine depends on your product physical properties, factory conditions, your bag style, the skills of equipment operators, and how much you are willing to spend.
If you request intermittent production or only a small sample production, you’d better use semi-automatic or manual packaging.
If more than a certain amount, it is best to use an automated solution.
Way to shorten the purchase procurement
Therefore, if you can make full preparations for above info before contacting the manufacturer, it will effectively shorten the purchase procurement. It’s easy to buy packaging machines, isn’t it?
The important is that supplier solutions must be compared with same conditions. Select the best supplier for your company by price/performance ratio, service, equipment quality, appearance quality, etc.