Summertime Products and LPS Packaging Equipment

The mercury is approaching eighty degrees today and one can only hope that the cold weather is finally giving way to warmer temps that will stick around for awhile now. As summer arrives, some of the products that LPS helps package will become more prominent, at least in our area. Below we take a quick look at some of the equipment used to package liquids that might be termed summertime products.

Day to day activities in the warmer months can require a little extra hydration! Lemonade, sports drinks and other cool beverages, while available year-round, catch the eye of a few more people in the summer. LPS packaging equipment such as gravity fillers, overflow filling machines, spindle cappers and labeling machines assist in preparing these beverages for the consumer. Gravity and overflow fillers move lower viscosity products into waiting bottles using either a volumetric or fill-to-level system, respectively. Most beverages are sealed with a screw-on type cap, making the spindle capping machine an ideal choice to keep product fresh and free from contaminants. Finally, labels are applied most commonly with a wrap around label on beverage bottles, though other applications are possible, including front and back as well as panel wraps for the more unique beverage containers.

Of course, summer means sun, which means an increased use of tanning lotions and sunblock, not to mention ointments and creams for the post-sun burn. These products are also handled by LPS equipment, in much the same manner as the beverages mentioned above. However, some of these products may be a little bit thicker than the water-like beverages popular in the summertime. Rather than the bottle fillers mentioned above, thicker products may require a pump or piston filling machine to move the liquid through the product pathway and in to waiting containers. Many of the other pieces of equipment would likely remain the same, however, as screw-on type caps continue to be popular for these products, though different styles, such as flip top and trigger sprayers may take center stage.

Of course, more activity (in our area anyway) takes place outdoors in the coming months, so from treating grass and plants to fighting weeds to preparing the swimming pool, certain chemicals become more popular with the rise in temperature. LPS filling machinery can also be manufactured to handle corrosive liquids as well. The machinery may swap the typical stainless steel construction for HDPE frames and components in order to avoid the negative affects of the chemicals on the machinery, but the same filling principles apply, allowing products to be filled by volume, level or other method.

Of course, there are many other products that become more popular in the heat of the summer, and LPS equipment likely has been used to prepare them for the shelf! To learn more about our packaging equipment, including fillers, cappers, labelers and more, browse our website or call our offices to speak with a Packaging Specialist today.