Filling and sealing: Industry automates for minimal downtime and maximum output

15 May 2024 --- The demand for flexible packaging machinery to meet various filling and sealing demands is increasing. Industry actors are innovating to balance sustainability and process optimization.

Kevin Groten, marketing and communications coordinator at Sealpac, tells Packaging Insights that the company’s machines enable customers to set up fully automated solutions for the processing and packaging of customers’ products. 

“Any synchronization, for example, with a filling solution, is made easy,” he says.

Sealpac’s worldwide distributors network can assist customers either by performing as a project manager or by connecting the various parties involved. 

“As an example, each model within our Amax-series traysealers is equipped with the innovative iMode control. It manages the speed of the entire process according to a simple principle — the number of packages to be sealed per minute, as specified by the operator,” explains Groten.

He says this determines the speed of all subsequent processes, including a filling system that needs to run faster or slower. “The result is an optimized packaging process.”

Sealpac’s EasyLid packaging concept: Fully automated process butter is filled into the tray and sealed on a Sealpac A6max traysealer (Image credit: Sealpac).Automation and paper trends
There is a growing demand for sustainable packaging across various industries, asserts Groten. “At Sealpac, we are offering a wide variety of solutions, which can all be run on the same base machine.”

“An example is our EasyLid packaging concept, which we recently installed at a customer in the Netherlands, wherein fully automated process butter is filled into the tray and then sealed on a Sealpac A6max traysealer.” 

EasyLid provides a highly reliable lid solution, but requires no additional lid, hence offering advantages in the entire production chain, explains Groten. 

“By changing over from a traditional tray with lid to our EasyLid packaging concept, the customer achieved a stunning 35% savings in packaging weight.”

“Also, paper-based trays are upcoming. Recently, one of our distributors installed a full-line solution for salad spreads with automatic filling and sealing. It currently utilizes a plastic tray but is designed with the flexibility to transition to a paper-based tray, offering a sustainable option for the future.”

Industry innovations
Latest innovations for filling and sealing solutions were also emphasized at the Anuga FoodTec and Empack trade shows earlier this year. 

At Anuga FoodTec in Cologne, Germany, Syntegon subsidiary Ampack showcased its new bottle-filling machine branded Ampack FBL.Paper-based trays are trending, says Groten (Image credit: Sealpac).

The new bottle filler is based on the company’s existing FCL machine. “Our FCL machine is a cup-filling machine introduced several years ago. It’s an aseptic filling machine and based on this concept, Ampack designed a new bottle filling machine,” Oguz Karcier, Syntegon’s head of Product Management for Food Liquid, told us on the show floor.

Meanwhile, among Empack’s exhibitors was Mosca, who showcased its Sonix M-RI machine. At the show in Gorinchem, the Netherlands, Jeroen Bax, regional director for Benelux at Mosca, told us that the version on display has the latest aggregates, including Sonics technology.

Furthermore, GKS Packaging brought three vertical form, fill and seal machines to Empack that are suitable for packing various food and non-food products.. 

The packaging landscape is diverse and contains a wide variety of product types, sizes and formats. “Our packaging machines are highly versatile and flexible, and therefore capable of packaging various materials, shapes and sizes,” says the Sealpac marketing and communications coordinator.

“To be part of a full-line solution, Sealpac machines are always easy to synchronize with any filling system, resulting in minimal downtime and maximum output.”

By Natalie Schwertheim