SACHET FILLING
Liquid products demonstrate
Sachet versatility ONCE THE PRESERVE OF POWDERS AND GRANULES, SACHETS, POUCHES AND STICKPACKS
ARE FINDING INCREASING FAVOUR WITH MANUFACTURERS OF LIQUID AND WET PRODUCTS,
INCLUDING PHARMACEUTICALS AND YOGURTS. ASEPTIC SACHETS ARE NOW ALSO A REALITY.
I t’s been a while in the making, but the world’s
first aseptic machine for stand-up pouches is
finally up and running.
The machine in question is the SMA-260
from Italian equipment manufacturer Volpak,
represented in the UK by Integrapak.
The form-fill-seal system, which builds on
Volpak’s Ultraclean machines, represents a
breakthrough in aseptic flexible packaging as,
up until now, the only aseptic packaging options
were bottles or brik style packs.
The problem with that, as Integrapak sales
manager Michael Lindsay, points out, is that
“bottles are expensive and brik packs are get-
ting a bit stale and, being rectangular, don’t
offer much differentiation.”
Mr Lindsay sees massive potential for the
technology in dairy applications, for, say milk-
based drinks and yogurt and fromage frais prod-
ucts. “Basically it is suitable for any product
that needs an extended shelf life or is presently
distributed via the cold chain. The other advan-
tage is that you can put a spout on the pouch, so
the format isn’t just limited to drinking yogurts.
High speed tissues: German built Pilz FB530 ten-lane tissue line from FJ Pistol is capable of 750 a minute
‘Spoonable’ products such as fromage frais, for
example, can be squeezed.”
Several of the systems have already been
installed and validated at an undisclosed dairy in
France and, predictably, Volpak’s competitors
are intent on developing equivalent technology.
So with the competition eager to muscle in on
the action, it’s understandable that Volpak
wants to keep its cards close to its chest when it
comes to explaining how it has succeeded where
others have yet to do so.
“Because we’re the only people who can do it
and our competitors are desperately trying to
copy us we can’t give away too much about what
we do, although I’m sure they’ve got a pretty
good idea,” says Michael Lindsay.
Decontaminating the pouch
Essentially, the concept is based on the principle
of decontaminating the formed pouch using a
vaporised H2O2 solution inside and out. By steril-
ising the formed pouch the aseptic area is kept
to a minimum, making it easier to control.
However, besides making strides in aseptic
M A C H I N E R Y U P D AT E • M AY / J U N E 2 0 0 7
pouches, Volpak has made further progress in
form-fill-seal technology for retort pouches.
Michael Lindsay reports that a principal man-
ufacturer of cat food has switched from pre-
made pouches to form-fill-seal pouches using a
Volpak SM machine running 220 packs a
minute, which is twice as fast as previous form-
fill-seal machines.
He says Volpak has achieved this by overcom-
ing seal integrity issues. “The SM range has sev-
eral features which enable us to offer better seal
integrity, such as parallel motion seal bars and
double sealing.
“On most horizontal form-fill-seal machines
the seal bar is hinged at one end and opens like a
fan then closes and applies pressure. This means
that on a bigger pack or heavy material, there is
more pressure on the bottom of the seal bar and
therefore on the bottom of the pack because
you’re closing there first. Parallel motion seal
bars open and close along the full length, distrib-
uting sealing pressure more evenly.”
Equally impressive speeds are being achieved
by Volpak’s SM range on spouted pouches for
fruit purees.
Historically, many food manufacturers have
shied away from form-fill-seal pouches on the
basis of slower production speeds and inferior
quality. However, as illustrated by Volpak, the
speed gap between pre-made and form-fill-seal
pouches is rapidly closing.
So too, is the quality gap, according to
Bramigk’s Phil Price. “Today, the quality of a
pouch made from the reel is equal to that of a
pre-made pouch, which alters the argument of
fill and seal versus form-fill-seal. It’s no longer
about quality, but about flexibility.”
Bramigk distributes the German-built Lau-
denberg range of horizontal form-fill-seal and
fill-seal machines, which have just been modu-
larised to improve on costs, delivery times and
flexibility. Laudenberg has also launched a high
65
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speed continuous motion machine, capable of even quadruplex machinery for producing up to increasing orders for the product ACC, which it
producing up to 500 stand-up pouches a minute. four pouches per cycle. For example, Clan Pack- produces on behalf of Hexal.
This uses existing technology for the film feed- aging has delivered several quadruplex Lindopharm wanted a machine that could
ing, which links to a new continuous motion fill- machines for filling facial creams into flat pack a minimum of four different powder and
ing arrangement. The style and shape of the pouches with a top cap to a high profile multina- granule products for 33 countries into four-
pouch is unlimited as is the inclusion of fitments, tional company. edge-seal sachets, in a multiple shift operation.
zippers and so on. The first machine has been The pouch equipment industry might be a It opted for the LA500/P700 from Mediseal
sold for packing a yogurt product into a pouch hotbed of innovation at present, but sachets are – represented in the UK by Körber Medipack –
with a spout fitment. still widely used, particularly in the pharmaceu- on the basis of its high output, high dosage accu-
In addition, Bramigk has just secured an tical industry. Bristol-Myers Squibb, for exam- racy and ability to switch the embossing unit on
order from a pet food manufacturer to install a ple, packs powders for oral application in a the sealing seam to an ink jet. Within six months
Laudenberg form-fill-seal machine in one of its three-shift operation with a Sigpack Systems the LA500/P700 was up and running six days a
UK plants. The manufacturer already has identi- RGS/KG3 sachet maker/cartoner at its factory week on a two-shift pattern, producing over
cal machines – capable of producing six differ- in Meymac, France. 700,000 sachets a day.
ent stand-up pouch sizes – in operation else- The system occupies less than 7.5sq metres Another MediSeal pharmaceutical sachet
where in Europe. and consists of a six-lane vertical sachet machine, the LA 400, which was launched at
machine, which produces 750 sachets a minute, Interpack 2005, is now in operation in France
Round seamless pouches and an integrated intermittent cartoner, which and Asia. Indeed, Flexibility was a key focus for
But pouches are no longer limited to the more runs at 100 cartons a minute. In the UK Sig- Medi-seal in designing the LA400 edge-seal
conventional stand-up pouch formats. Lauden- pack equipment is marketed by Bosch Packag- sachet machine, according to the company’s
berg’s new Cyclero machine produces round, ing Services. Stephan Plewa, who led the team that devel-
seamless pouches, with flat tops or bottoms to At the heart of the machine is a pulsing auger oped the new system.
resemble a can, which can be fitted with a screw filler, which completes 125 cycles a minute. An
top spout. in-line weight checking system continually con- Ever shorter batch sizes
Flexibility in terms of formats, fitments and trols and adapts the dosing volume by regulating “The ever increasing number of products,
sizes has been a key driver behind Mespack’s the speed of each respective scroll. Every sachet accompanied by ever shorter batch sizes, is a
latest research and development efforts. is checkweighed on line and over or underweight trend in edge-seal sachet packaging which has
At this year’s Total exhibition, the Spanish sachets are sluiced out via a dump gate. gained importance in recent years. MediSeal’s
manufacturer - via UK agent Clan Packaging - is With pharmaceutical products, seal integrity experience in this area has been applied in full
introducing its H-150-FE system, described as a is clearly paramount. On the Sigpack sachet to the new development.”
“highly versatile machine, offering a real alter- maker, web preheating and escorting cross-seam The LA400 can be deployed to package both
native to larger and more expensive machines”. sealing units are said to guarantee seal integrity liquid and highly viscous products, powders, tis-
This horizontal machine can form-fill-seal flat at high cycle rates. sues and contoured bags or sachets. Fast con-
three or four-side seal sachets and stand-up In neighbouring Germany, pharmaceutical version from one product to another is assured
pouches up to 150mm wide and 300mm high at manufacturer and contract packer Lindopharm by quick release tool holders, servo drive and
speeds up to 120 a minute. It can be adapted to recently installed its fourth sachet machine to IQCP (Integrated Quick Cleaning Procedure)
fill any product, from powders and granules to cope with dosing systems.
solids, liquids and pastes, and to incorporate any Another newcomer to the pharmaceutical
fitment or closure requirements, from reclosable Souper sachet packing scene is the Arcotronics PSF
zippers to built-in drinking straws. It can
also accommodate two filling stations, sachet maker four-sided sachet form-fill-seal machine
from the Italian Omag and Arcotronics
allowing different products to be filled Propack Automation Machinery has recently supplied an Group, which is now represented in the
into the same pouch. Enflex Model F-14 Simplex horizontal form-fill-seal sachet UK by Excel Packaging Machinery.
Film transport through the machine to R Sarant and Co, a UK company that packs powdered Several of the machine’s design
machine is via servo-driven rollers, soup ingredients. In choosing a new machine, Sarant’s key criteria features are patented, including
allowing the pouch width to be set were reliability, ease of operation, maintenance and cleaning, and good the intermittent motion sealing
via the touchscreen. The film reels technical back-up. system, the film draw-off system
are fixed on pneumatically expand- The F-14 can form sachets ranging from 50 x 70mm up to 140 x and the reel splicing system. The
able reels, enabling quick reel 200mm and fill them with up to 300ml of product at rates of 100 units film system for unwind uses tan-
changes. In addition, the electrical a minute. This increases to 400 units a minute with the Double Duplex gential friction to drive the idle
cabinet is separate from the machine, model, which consists of two machines – a left-handed and a right- film reel; reel splicing is carried out
which alleviates the risk of damage to handed machine – in a frame. The machine operates with two outside the main body of the machine
the machine’s electrical components as a reels, one at each end of the machine. The pouches are for containment reasons; and with the
result of vibration, heat and humidity. made from both reels and are finished at the sealing system, when the machine is rest-
Besides its standard line of horizontal form- centre of the machine where the pouch out- ing, the sealing plates open and swing
fill-seal equipment, Mespack offers triplex and feed is situated. upwards to ease access for changeover, cleaning

66 M A C H I N E R Y U P D AT E • M AY / J U N E 2 0 0 7
Precise dosing: Marchesini MS235 vertical sachet machine uses secondary screw feeders
or replacement of type when hot emboss coding
is employed.
Another Italian firm, Marchesini, has
redesigned its MS235 vertical sachet form-fill-
seal machine for the pharmaceutical and cos-
metic industries, to incorporate a new dosing
unit.
To guarantee precise dosing every time, each
dosing screw feeder is fitted with a motor-driven
secondary pre-screw feeder device which accu-
rately feeds the product into each dosing chan-
nel. The secondary screw feeder unit is driven by
an independent brushless motor, which has
enabled Marchesini to dispense with mixers
around the dosing unit. The dosing system is set
up to provide weight checking and feedback on
each lane.
Marchesini says it is easy to change the sachet
length by simply altering a parameter on the dis-
play. In addition, the machine can be pro-
grammed so that the dosing device is automati-
cally removed at the end of production.
FJ Pistol Machine Services is the UK agent
for the German-built Piltz FB range of sachet
machines for pharmaceutical, cosmetics, food,
automotive, chemical and household products.
It can deliver high capacity machines in vari-
ous configurations ranging from one to 20 lanes.
The machines are PLC controlled and said to
offer low maintenance and full accessibility for
size changes and cleaning, as a result of sealing
stations that open 180deg. Installations to date
have included a complete pharmaceutical line,
consisting of a melting and mixing vessel and
FB330 medium output sachet machine, and a
ten-lane tissue line capable of producing approx-
imately 750 sachets a minute.
Italian manufacturer Boato Pack, repre-
sented in the UK by Springvale Equipment, pro-
duces sachet machines based on three web
widths: the Europa up to 150mm, the Optimist
up to 250mm and the Tornado up to 450mm.
Each base machine can be fitted with a range of
servo controlled filling options including oscil-
lating or tangential flow volumetric systems for
powders, granules, tablets and small sweets,
pumps for liquid dispensing, and a wet tissue
feeder for non-woven material, folded as
required with liquid inserted.
Boato Pack says its machines have been
designed to run at speeds up to 300 cycles a
minute, but electronically limited to 250. Typi-
cal running speeds are: powders and granules
up to 3600 sachets a minute, wet tissues up to
960 sachets a minute, ketchup at 960 a minute
or more, and large packs, of up to 250g of mar-
garine for example, at 100 sachets a minute.
Stick-packing branches out
Stick-packing continues to branch out beyond
its core application area of single-serve coffee
and sugar packs and is emerging as a popular
packaging format for manufacturers looking for
a point of differentiation.
“Stick packs are increasingly finding phar-
maceutical uses for the same reasons that made
them popular for foodstuffs – precise dosage of
contents, convenience, low product wastage,
M A C H I N E R Y U P D AT E • M AY / J U N E 2 0 0 7 67
SACHET FILLING
Pocket size stick: Gaviscon is packed on a Toyo stick-packing machine supplied by Selo UK
minimal consumption of wrapping material and
ease of secondary packaging,” says Sigpack’s
Holger Botsch. “These benefits are leading to a
remarkable expansion of stick pack usage in the
pharmaceutical sector, with some sources
reporting up to 30 per cent annual growth.”
One criticism that has historically been lev-
elled at stick packs is that they are slow to fill,
however, according to Mr Botsch, while this may
once have been true, it is certainly no longer the
case. “Modern modular multi-lane machines
can fill up to 100 stick packs a minute in each
lane. So with a ten-lane configuration, the over-
all throughput is 1000 packs a minute.”
Yogurt in stickpacks
It’s not just in the pharmaceutical sector where
stick packs are catching on. They are also being
used in some unusual food industry applications.
Through its distribution agreement with German
stick packing specialist Schwarze Automation,
Integrapak has just installed a six-lane machine
for packing children’s yogurt into stick packs at
speeds of up to 270 sticks a minute.
“There are not many companies who would
tackle this application as it’s a high care prod-
uct, so it has to be packed in a clean environ-
ment by a fully stainless steel machine with CIP
dosing equipment,” explains sales manager
Michael Lindsay.
Selo UK, representative for Toyo Machine
Manufacturing, is another stick pack equipment
supplier who sees massive potential in liquid
applications, such as yogurt and single dose
pharmaceutical products which eliminate the
traditional ‘bottle and spoon’ approach.
“The liquid stick side of Toyo’s business is a
key development. Imagine how much easier and
more portable a 5ml or 10ml stick is than a bot-
tle of children’s liquid pain killing suspension,”
says Selo UK’s special projects manager (pack-
aging), Tom Dowling.
Although not yet available in the UK, Reckitt
Benckiser’s Gaviscon products are sold in
pocket sized sticks in continental Europe. The
line, based in Hull, is a full turnkey solution from
68 M A C H I N E R Y U P D AT E • M AY / J U N E 2 0 0 7
Length is set from the control panel by adjust-
ing the servo motor driving the drawdown mech-
anism while dosing is via a tangential flow volu-
metric doser or separately controlled augers for
powders and servo driven pump for liquids.
The Boato Pack Tornado S6 is able to produce
stickpacks from 17 to 50mm flat stick width
and is aimed in particular at contract packers
being able, typically, to make 22mm diameter
sticks of coffee powder, 35mm diameter sticks
Selo UK, and includes stick filling and case of cappuccino powder and also 50mm sticks of
packing. The line is designed with full CIP capa- drinking chocolate.
bility and has full traceability for all packaging The S4 machine offers stick widths of 30-
materials. 100mm and can produce a pack up to 200mm
Propack Automation Machinery has recently long at speeds up to 240 a minute . I
entered the market for stick-packing equipment
by adding the Inever range of machinery to its For further information:
portfolio.
Bosch Packaging Services
Inever designs both customised and standard
T: 01332 626262
machines for food and pharmaceutical applica- E: ukenquiries@boschpackaging.com
tions. Key features of its machines include
180deg rotation of the vertical sealing bars and Bramigk & Co
T: 01245 477616
the absence of cooling pipes and external wires E: info@bramigk.co.uk
from the front of the machine to allow easy
access for cleaning. Clan Packaging
T: 01753 830196
A standard system can produce packs up to
E: sales@uniclan.co.uk
200mm long and 45mm wide across five lanes
and is suitable for filling liquids, semi-liquids, Excel Packaging Machinery
T: 01865 400489
granules and powders.
E: info@excel-packagingmachinery.com
Two new fast size change Boato Pack stick-
pack machines were announced by Springvale Integrapak
Equipment at last year’s PPMA Show. On both T: 01420 593680
E: integrapak@integrapak.co.uk
the six lane Tornado S6 and the four lane Tor-
nado S4 size changeover is achieved simply by Körber Medipack
exchanging the forming tubes, loading a new T: 01753 754865
E: info@uk.koerber-medipak.com
reel of appropriate width material and resetting
the pitch of the slitter knives to create six or four FJ Pistol Machine Services
webs to suit the new pack width. T: 01727 823461
E: info@pistol-mach.co.uk
Propack Automation Machinery
T: 02476 470074
E: office@propack.co.uk
Selo UK
T: 0151 644 9393
E: info@selo.co.uk
Springvale Equipment
T: 01420 542505
E: springvale@springequip.co.uk
TMG Marchesini
T: 01525 216201
E: sales@marchesini.co.uk
For full details of all PPMA members able to
supply sachet filling machinery, consult the
PPMA machinery finder service, tel: 020
Fast changeover: Boato Pack six-lane Tornado S6 8773 8111, or visit www.ppma.co.uk
stick-packing machine