7 Tips For Designing The Perfect Packaging Operation Solutions

16 Oct 7 Tips For Designing The Perfect Packaging Operation Solutions

Form And Fill Or Pre-Formed: Choose Wisely

Form and fill equipment almost simultaneously forms and fills the bag with product. This option is available in both vertical and horizontal equipment to suit a variety of packaging needs, and is typically best for consumer packaged goods.

Pre-formed, on the other hand, fills a pre-made container with the right amount of product. This includes valve bags, open-mouth bags, boxes, pails, drums, or intermediate bulk containers (IBCs).

Listen To Your Product

If your product has size variation (i.e., waxy chemicals, coal, cereals, or cheese shreds) a belt feeder or vibratory tray is best, whereas if your product is dense and flows freely like corn, grains, or sugar, a gravity bagging machine may be a better option.

Auger machines are used for flakes, powders, and any other material that can be heated or ground. They are commonly used for ground coffee, calcium carbonate, brown sugar, and many other applications.

Regardless of the type of product and packaging solution needed, don’t forget about shipping, delivery, or storage needs, as it is key for each product to arrive at its destination and sustain the proper shelf life without issue.

Decide To Be Fast… Or Accurate.

That’s not to say you have to be the turtle or the hare, but increases in feed rate almost always come at the cost of accuracy. To ensure as much accuracy as possible while being practical, it’s critical that you define the performance criteria that will be used to measure success. Our Packaging Machinery Pre-Investment Checklist is a great tool to help with this.

Don’t Forget About Your Facility

When looking for the perfect packaging solution for your customers and products, it’s easy to forget you also must consider the facility housing the equipment, and the technical experience of the workers within that facility. If your equipment doesn’t fit well in the space, or isn’t operated properly, you will have more headaches than the investment is worth in the long run.

Remember The Golden Rule Of Packaging

Wasted space is wasted money. If you don’t maximize the efficiency of the space in your packaging solution, you are leaving money on the table. That being said, over packing containers can lead to downstream issues. To marry the best of both worlds, consider adjustable options that allow you to ensure a good fit.

Install (And Maintain) The System Properly

Equipment is only as good as its installation, and its maintenance. Too often, “perfect” packaging systems are designed but corners are cut during installation and regular preventive maintenance is neglected, derailing the success of the entire system.

Integrate Before You Buy

The perfect packaging solution is greater than the sum of its parts. When designing your system, ensure you can harmoniously integrate the different equipment together before implementing your solutions. There are ways to improve efficiencies and reduce costs by considering ways to connect each part of your packaging line to one another for a more seamless process, reducing the amount of hands required to touch the product throughout production.