Form fill seal packaging is handled by a machine that is used to form a package, fill it with a product, and then seal it. Rather than manually holding and filling the bags, the machine provides consistent bagging rates at a rapid speed. Horizontal form fill seal machines are often used with products that are solid and easily handled and/or contained. Horizontal FFS machines consist of a product filler (which controls the amount of product that is dispensed) and the actual bagging unit. At GCI, we specialize in horizontal form fill seal packaging for small to midsize pouches and know just how valuable it can be.
How Horizontal Form Fill Seal Packaging Works
- Form: The first step in horizontal form fill seal packaging is creating the shape of the packaging materials. While our most popular “form” is the very versatile, yet basic, rectangular pouch, unique shapes and sizes are possible. Once your design is finalized, it is formatted to the shape and then printed.
- Fill: While this might seem like an obvious step, it needs to be noted that filling the pouch with the product does involve different processes. Some hot, sterile products need to be held for a certain length of time while the packaging is sterilized. It is also possible to place sterilized products into pre-sterilized containers. Cold filling is used for products that have dairy as a main ingredient such as yogurt.
- Seal: Heat sealing is a traditional way to seal the package. It is popular because of its low cost and reliability along with its easy engineering needs. While it is based on electric resistance (the opposition to the flow of current in an electric circuit), there are multiple steps involved like the all-important cooling step that guarantees the overall sealing quality.
Products That Use Form Fill Seal Packaging
There are a number of products that can benefit from the use of form fill seal packaging. Bulk goods (nuts and cookies along with non-food items including screws and bolts), granules (detergent), powders (ground coffee), liquids (including ketchup and salad dressing along with bath gel), and items that include dairy (milk and cream). Each of these products benefits from the automated, assembly-line product packaging capabilities of form fill seal packaging that requires routine maintenance checks of the equipment and no downtime.
Contact our expert team today about starting, or upgrading, your horizontal form fill seal packaging services.
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Phone: 215-441-5335