Accuracy and management in the pouch filling process
Volpak, a Coesia Group company, is a manufacturer of horizontal form-fill-seal machines for flexible pouches. The applications of the flexible pouches are many and can be adapted to any product and industry. Volpak explains how the filling phase works, and why experience is so important to correctly manage the whole process.
A lot can happen in 400 milliseconds; in the case of horizontal form fill and seal (HFFS) pouching machines, the whole high-precision process of filling pouches occurs in this very short time frame. The key is to have a strong knowledge of the product to be able to control its flow into the pouch with the most precise dosing accuracy possible. Different parameters need to be taken into consideration to define the correct filling technology and obtain the best results. The brand owners need to share their product knowledge with machine manufacturers. The more the machine manufacturer knows about the product, the more likely it is that they can ensure the correct technology choice, a consistent flow and accurate dosing for the brand owner’s product. When it comes to powdery products, many different properties work together to influence which type of dosing machine is required as well as its performance. These range from granulometry and uniformity of grain size, all the way to fluidity, density, and hygroscopic properties.
Most commonly, powders are dosed using an auger filler, which is a dispenser that continually releases a pre-set volume of product. The dosage can be controlled electronically by adjusting the precise number of times the auger screw turns per cycle. Since these types of fillers measure the quantity of product per dose by volume and not by weight, the granular parameters, therefore, affect the accuracy of filling. To achieve accuracy, the first rule is to ensure you are working within a stable environment. In other words, it is important to ensure there is a continually stable quantity of a product in the ‘hopper’ of the dosing equipment, which is the name of the cone-shaped container that holds granular and powdered materials. The feeding system synchronizes with the auger filler thanks to special detectors that can measure the level of product being held inside.
Environmental conditions also influence the dosage, take hygroscopic products, compounds that attract water in the form of steam, for instance. The behavior of these products changes according to the humidity level and tend to become compact, thus altering the quantity of product that is dosed in each cycle. Overall, these aspects of dosage and flow in the filling procedure are essential. The more you know about the internal workings of your HFFS machine’s filling process, the more likely you will be able to autonomously identify any potential issues before they happen.
The Covid-19 pandemic led to the country-wide lockdown on 25 March 2020. It will be two years tomorrow as I write this. What have we learned in this time? Maybe the meaning of resilience since small companies like us have had to rely on our resources and the forbearance of our employees as we have struggled to produce our trade platforms.
The print and packaging industries have been fortunate, although the commercial printing industry is still to recover. We have learned more about the digital transformation that affects commercial printing and packaging. Ultimately digital will help print grow in a country where we are still far behind in our paper and print consumption and where digital is a leapfrog technology that will only increase the demand for print in the foreseeable future.
Web analytics show that we now have readership in North America and Europe amongst the 90 countries where our five platforms reach. Our traffic which more than doubled in 2020, has at times gone up by another 50% in 2021. And advertising which had fallen to pieces in 2020 and 2021, has started its return since January 2022.
As the economy approaches real growth with unevenness and shortages a given, we are looking forward to the PrintPack India exhibition in Greater Noida. We are again appointed to produce the Show Daily on all five days of the show from 26 to 30 May 2022.
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