What Equipment Do I Need to Fully Automate My Liquid Packaging Line?

The simple answer to the question "what equipment do I need to automate my packaging line?" is, it depends. But that is hardly the answer that a new or veteran packager is looking for from a machine manufacturer. The answer goes beyond this simple response, or even a single machine. A truly automated packaging line will include all of the machinery necessary to form a cohesive network of equipment that works together to clean, fill, cap, label, and otherwise prepare your specific products for delivery to the consumer.

At Liquid Packaging Solutions, we often talk about rinse, fill, cap or fill, cap, label as the core of a complete packaging system. Most businesses will need one of these two bundles as a minimum basis for a fully automated packaging line. The equipment necessary for any packager will simply require an analysis of the business needs to find the combination of machinery necessary to minimize human intervention while adding, or not diluting, efficiency, consistency, and reliability. LPS helps not only to identify the necessary equipment, but also to ensure that equipment communicates and works seamlessly together to meet these goals.

CORE EQUIPMENT

As noted above, there are a few machines that will likely be seen repeatedly in automated packaging lines. First, a packaging line must plan for efficient movement of containers from one machine to another. Power conveyor systems ensure smooth transitions from one task to the next and may also be used for bottle loading, quality control checks, accumulation, and even as a packaging assistant. At the very least, a conveyor system to move containers will work as the circulation system of the packaging line.

Businesses may also use bottle rinsing machines to clean containers before product is introduced. In some cases, where a liquid product is ingested, such as food and beverage products, or pharmaceutical items, rinsing bottles may be a necessity to ensure a pure, uncontaminated product. Other packagers may use a bottle rinser for aesthetic purposes, keeping products looking clean as they reach the shelf, or lines simply may not need or have a bottle rinsing machine.

Almost every automatic packaging system will include a liquid filling machine, adding efficiency and reliability to the filling process. Whether filling by volume, level, or net weight, filling machines add speed, efficiency, and consistency that can rarely, if ever, be equaled by hand packaging products. Using anywhere from two to sixteen fill heads, liquid fillers can meet a range of production demands while also handling different container sizes and shapes.

Similarly, once liquid products are in the bottles, capping machinery is almost always required to ensure the product stays in the bottles until the end user opens the container for its intended use. Different capping machines are used for different closure types, but where using continuous thread caps, snap on caps, corks, ROPP caps, or other closures, the machines consistently seal containers quickly, avoiding loose caps and over-tightening, all without the threat of repetitive motion injury that might come with hand tightening caps.

Finally, nearly all businesses will use a labeling machine to present their products to consumers. Equipment can be built to apply labels in a variety of different formats, including wrap labels, panels, front and back orientation or even a top and bottom application. While offering aesthetic value, labels can also inform potential customers about the product to help a certain brand stand out from the competition.

OTHER COMPONENTS

While the above machinery will almost always be found on an automated packaging line, there are additional components that may or may not be either necessary or desired to complete an efficient liquid packaging line. This equipment may include bottle unscramblers or loading turntables to assist in starting the process. Coding equipment might be used to print batch and expiration dates or other information on individual products. Accumulation turntables or even an extending conveyor, alluded to above, may be added to the end of the system along with case packing or cartooning machinery to complete the process. Businesses may even add a pallet wrapper to help prepare multiple boxes or cases of products for shipping.

Even the controls of individual machines may be modified or customized to meet individual needs. Vision systems can help different machines communicate to ensure smooth performance along the entire line, pausing production when a bottle jam or lack of container is communicated to other machines. In a fully automated packaging line, all of the equipment must work together to reach those goals of minimal labor and maximum, efficient output.

So, the final answer to the title question is each business or packager will need a fully automatic packaging line with equipment customized to fit their unique and specific needs. Overall, the line is more than the sum of its parts, it is a carefully engineered system derived from an analysis of need that combines all of the necessary components and communication for a system customized to the project at hand.