Every day, as customers, we acquire new items. We want our money to be safely protected and in good condition when we invest it. For this reason, the industrial sector is in charge of programming an excellent automated packaging. We will see some of the keys to packaging automation procedures throughout this essay.
As a experts in automation and control, Frimaq can assist you in adapting your organization's industrial systems.
One of the most essential approaches in industrial production processes is automatic packaging. The preparation of merchandise or products must be accompanied by a container or packaging that preserves its content and serves as a brand product to advertise it. From this perspective, the main purposes of packaging are to contain, protect and maintain the product, convey it and inform consumers about it.
Steps to follow in automatic packaging
Industrial packaging often adheres to predetermined criteria. A secondary package includes the primary package, which contains the product itself. This second container, which may contain one or more primary containers, is housed in a shipping container among other secondary containers. A cargo and shipping unit is formed after grouping a succession of secondary containers.
- Secondary packaging preparation: A number of actions must be taken when preparing shipments with all items. There are several machines that automate secondary package preparation operations. For distribution, this wide range includes box formers and closers, shrink wrappers, palletizers, shrink wrappers, cartoners and blister packs.
- Control of the packaged product: It is essential to ensure the integrity of the product both before and after packaging. There are numerous solutions available for tracking product status. We can use vacuum detectors, volume dispensers, fillers and dispensers, metal detectors and other devices.
- Product Labeling: In order to be identified, all items must be properly labeled. This requires labeling machines that use adhesives to attach the container to the labels. Wet adhesives and self-adhesive labels are examples of this. You should also consider printing machines that generate ink etchings on products.
Types of packaging according to their physical state
The type of packaging will vary depending on the physical characteristics of the product. The product can be gaseous, liquid or solid, and each has a variety of alternatives.
- When you pack a gaseous substance, pressure vessels are the ideal alternative. We can place cylinders with high pressure oxygen or low pressure liquid gas, for example. In truth, most homes have gas flowing through pipes at high pressure in a gaseous state.
- Barrels, trucks, tanks, boats... are all examples of liquid products. There are more alternatives for this type of merchandise, since they adapt to the container if it has the essential characteristics. In these cases, the most important thing is to have the right automatic sealing tool.
- solid product: They are the simplest to pack. Bags of various materials, sacks, cartons, containers and wagons are used.
With this data, we can determine what type of packaging our product requires.
Examples of packaging
We will use some relatively typical operations to demonstrate automated packaging processes:
- Heat seal
Heat sealing is a popular method for mechanized packaging. For this type of packaging, prefabricated containers are required, which are then filled with the product and sealed using technology that applies heat and pressure to a plastic film that seals the merchandise. This approach can employ many layers to enhance security, as well as flexible and rigid materials. In addition, the packaging can be done under vacuum and with or without a change of environment.
- Bottled
Bottling is an important step for liquid items. Containers are generally constructed of glass or plastic and must be sterilized and thoroughly cleaned before filling. The machines are in charge of this operation, and later the containers are transported through conveyor belts to be filled. A tap introduces the liquid into the container and another machine seals it with plastic threads, corks, snap closures, metal lids, etc.
- Thermoforming
A sheet of thermoplastic material is used to manufacture personalized packaging. This procedure is normally used in the packaging of food products. The heat is used to shape the blade once it is inserted into a mold. The final step is to place the product in the container using the heat sealing technique mentioned above.
Automatic packaging methods are not easy, but all consumers appreciate the results. Without this technique, the packaging of any product would take much longer, causing a delay in supply. Automation has allowed, among other things, marketing through packaging and the provision of an ideal service to the final consumer.
