Flow wrap packaging is becoming more popular with manufacturers. Its use is trending towards individualized packaging in smaller sizes using newer, sustainable materials across different market segments (e.g., snack foods, confectionery, meat, ready meals and personal care).
At the same time, manufacturers are facing rising cost pressures, increased production complexity and faster time-to-market requirements. These challenges must be met without compromising on quality and while maintaining compliance with industry regulations. Our smart and flexible integrated product inspection technologies - including dynamic checkweighers, industrial metal detectors, x-ray inspection and vision inspection systems - can help meet these challenges on flow wrap packaging lines.
Our solutions offer:
How can product inspection solutions help you achieve an effective flow wrap packaging process? Whether your production line uses vertical or horizontal flow wrappers, we can help.
ProdX software provides the next level in product safety and savings. The software actively saves time and money by automating the monitoring, reporting, and collating of all product inspection activities in real-time. The safely stored data supports food safety regulatory compliance, taking due diligence to the next, higher level as a more effective brand protection measure. By analyzing the data, production line improvements can be identified, helping to increase productivity and combat rising costs.
Key benefits include:
Find out more in our latest service brochure linked below.
The most effective method for controlling product quality is to integrate advanced product inspection equipment on your production line. Using in-line product inspection equipment allows manufacturers to inspect every product on the line, automatically removing any which do not meet quality standards. The type and number of inspection systems that should be installed on the line depends on the particular quality control needs of the manufacturer. Ideally, your production line will have a solution in place to perform the following tasks:
The best method for verifying the weight of flow wrapped packages during the production process is via automatic in-line checkweighing. Using a dynamic checkweigher allows manufacturers to verify the weight of every product - even on high-speed production lines. If the checkweigher detects under-weight or over-weight packages, it can automatically reject that package from the line and notify operators or send real-time feedback to fillers if there is an issue.
Depending on the likely type of physical contamination and the packaging material, either metal detection or x-ray inspection can be the solution. An industrial metal detector can be used to identify and remove packaged or unpackaged products with ferrous, non-ferrous, and non-magnetic stainless steel metal contamination from the production line. Other forms of physical contamination - such as glass, plastic, or stone - require the use of an x-ray inspection system. Depending on the likely types of contaminants and the product and package attributes - it may even be best to use both!
Metal detectors can be placed in several locations on flow wrap production lines. One can be installed early in the line, before the product is packaged to remove any metal-contaminated products prior to packaging. This helps save costs and materials by preventing contaminated product from wasting packaging. Some manufacturers also choose to set an industrial metal detector near the end of the production line as part of a final quality check of packaged products before they are shipped out.
Vision inspection systems are primarily used to verify the presence and accuracy of labeling information on product packaging. With pre-printed packaging, vision systems can verify this information before the product is packaged. For products with variable information printed after packaging (e.g. lot numbers or expiration dates), a smart camera or pc-controlled vision system verifies the information on the package line and removes any packaged product with missing, damaged, or incorrect information.
Having a checklist to make sure your quality assurance program is the best it can be is important – it’s an important guide to make sure you are directing your resources in the best way. We’re here to help with that – contact our experts today and they can help you put together a quality assurance checklist that will serve the needs of your flow wrap packaging line.