When solving packaging problems, you’ll achieve the best results when you diagnose one symptom at a time and evaluate the effects of each corrective adjustment. This systematic approach will help you isolate the causes, determine the best solutions, and avoid steps that compound the problem and waste time.
In part 1 of this Greener Tech Bite we diagnose the most apparent problem on this package from a flow pack wrapper—the split in the upper left corner.
This Greener Tech Bite reviews machine adjustments and sealing jaw designs that provide the pressure and heat* required for quality seals. You can consult additional, detailed posts and videos on each topic by clicking the red links or the corresponding images.
Quality seals on flow wrappers & vertical baggers require a combination of time, pressure, and heat, if utilized, that seals across varying thicknesses created by the fin or lap seal, gussets, or other pleats and wrinkles. Read more
Changes on horizontal flow wrappers occur regularly—during sanitation, product changeovers, part installations and adjustments, maintenance, and from wear and tear. These changes can impact the success of your next production run, yet they often go unnoticed.
This Greener Tech Bite presents our quick, Preventative Maintenance Checklist. By investing five or ten minutes to inspect these four areas before starting production, you will be up and running more quickly and avoid hours of downtime. Read more
This Greener Tech Bite, with the help of our partner Kenray Forming, explores six key design and set-up principles to help you identify the source of forming and sealing problems and develop solutions for quality packages. Read more
Varying thicknesses of film at the end seal can cause sealing problems, especially at the transition points of multiple film layers created by the fin or lap seal, gussets, wrinkles, creases, and at the corners. Applications of pressure and heat must be great enough to cause the sealant layer to flow into and seal off these voids. However, excess pressure can easily crush or split the end seal, while overheating distorts the seal and can cause poor hot tack, where the film springs back open, or “moons,” before the seal can set.
The operating window for creating quality seals can be elusive, resulting in packages that leak, are distorted, and have little appeal to consumers. Read more
Varying thicknesses of film at the end seal can cause sealing problems, especially at the transition point between two and four layers created by the fin seal, gussets, wrinkles and creases, as well at the corners. Applications of pressure and heat (if applicable) must be great enough to cause the sealant layer to flow into and seal off these voids. Excess pressure can easily crush or split the end seal, while overheating distorts the seal and can cause poor hot tack, where the film springs back open, or “moons,” before the seal can set.
The operating window for creating quality seals can be elusive, resulting in packages that leak, are distorted, and have little appeal to consumers.
An important step in troubleshooting these issues is to eliminate unintended wrinkles and creases. This post, the first in a four-part series, will examine this process on horizontal flow wrappers; Part 2 considers these issues on vertical baggers.
