Speed vs. Accuracy: The Right Balance in Liquid Filling
When preparing liquid products for customers, faster is not always better, while slower does not always mean higher precision. Instead, packagers need to find the optimal balance between speed and accuracy to reduce waste, protect product and maximize the productivity of their packaging equipment. At Liquid Packaging Solutions, we focus on achieving that balance for every packaging system we build.
The Interaction of Speed and Accuracy
High speed filling is designed to maximize product output, helping meet demand as it grows. However, pushing packaging equipment to its limits can often introduce inconsistency. On the other side of the equation, highly precise filling equipment may add extra steps or more time to ensure accuracy from bottle to bottle, slowing down the output of the machinery. So how do you increase production without sacrificing consistency? To answer that question, the characteristics of each packaging project have to be analyzed, including product viscosity, container sizes and shapes, the fill method, line synchronization, and any unique factors for a given project. At LPS, these variables will be evaluated together before manufacturing the liquid filling machine to achieve the necessary balance between speed and accuracy to ensure optimal performance.
How We Engineer the Balance into Our Fillers
As noted above, at LPS we approach every project with a system-wide mindset. While focusing on the filling machine, LPS also evaluates the entire packaging line or system to ensure the balance between speed and precision best suits the packager. As to the filling machine itself, the fill principle must match the product. That is to say, different machines work better with different viscosities. As a general rule, gravity and overflow filling machines work well with thin products, while pump and piston fillers handle higher viscosity liquids. While exceptions to these general rules exist, using the right fill principle ensures the filler itself will not slow down the line. For example, a slow moving liquid like honey would never benefit from a filling machine that uses simple gravity to move product.
Whether using simple gravity or enhancing flow with pumps or pistons, advanced timing and indexing systems, flow controls, fill head designs and overall control systems on the filling machine help to optimize speed, while reducing product waste. Components such as recipe screens to quickly recall setting and Clean-In-Place (CIP) systems reduce downtime to ensure higher output as well.
Once the optimal filling machine is identified, LPS will also look at line integration and synchronization. In other words, the filling machine is only as effective as the other machinery around it, or as the line in general. Conveyors on the entire system must move at optimal speeds to eliminate jams and bottlenecks anywhere on the line. Rinsing machines, bottle cappers, labelers, and other equipment must be able to keep pace with the optimal speed of the filling machines as well to avoid backups at any point on the line.
Finally, LPS engineers must consider real-world conditions for each project. No two product, no two facilities, and no two projects will be the same. Engineering a filling machine for the best balance of speed and accuracy includes factoring in unique circumstances like foamy liquids, hot fills, hazardous products, and more. Only by considering each of these factors for the filling machine, the products run, and for the final environment can the ideal balance between speed and accuracy be achieved.
At Liquid Packaging Solutions, we work with every packager to design an efficient, accurate, and long-term solution for the unique project at hand. Whether upgrading an existing system or beginning to build your own new system, LPS can help you strike the needed balance to ultimately reduce product loss, improve consistency and boost brand perception.