The marketplace is filled with a wide variety of packaging machines for almost any purpose. For a first-time floor manager in the food and beverage packaging industry, figuring out the difference between manual, semi-automatic & fully automatic machines can seem daunting. Purchasing department reps often have a hard time choosing between manual, semi-automatic & fully automatic machines for their companies.
How can these manager know what the right decision is?
Several different types of machines are used in the normal beverage bottling process. There are machines for the filling of liquid, the capping of bottles, and the plugging of bottle openings. Once the bottle contents have been filled, there are specific machines for the labeling of bottles, the date stamping of bottles, and handling before the bottle reaches its packaged destination. Typically, warehouse production floors use these machines for years due to the high price of purchase and the importance of consistent production. While many liquid filling machines can perform at a high level for many years, floor managers need to make the right selection that accurately fits the needs of their warehouse.
There are three main factors floor managers need to seriously consider before buying liquid filling machines. To start, floor managers need to be considerate of the type of liquids their production line is responsible for filling. Sometime machines are made specifically to handle foam filling. Many machinery manufacturers promise a high degree of accuracy with their filling equipment, but identifying which type of liquid a company needs to bottle can make finding the right filling machine much easier.
Bottling environment is also something to determine before choosing a filling machine. Sanitation regulations are different for certain products. Food and pharmaceutical bottling equipment sanitation codes, while stringent, are probably less demanding than those in hazardous or corrosive situations.
Container size is also an important factor to judge before choosing a filling machine. Some production plants fill beverages and drums, and there is a particular type of machine for those processes. Plants that fill dry products almost always use cups. In addition, pharmaceutical production plants often fill vials. The size of the canister is going to have a critical role in determining what filling machine is purchased.
Liquid packaging is not as simple as “pour it, cap it, ship it.” There are filling systems out there for every liquid filling project, and production floor supervisors are responsible for picking the right machine for the job. Taking the time to answering some important questions before floor managers start shopping for machinery will help to streamline the decision making process. And what floor manager doesn’t like making a decision with efficiency and affordability?
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