Captions on · Transcript below · Watch on YouTube (3:33)
Flow Wrap Film and Recyclable Materials
Christoph Recher, Sales Manager, and Thomas Czioska, Head of Sales & Marketing, of LoeschPack discuss the materials that touch the product. Recher says product-touching parts are stainless steel and film should be designed without overlap and no bigger than needed. Czioska explains that not every recyclable material runs on an automatic machine, and that paper-based materials often lack the protection barrier needed for shelf life.
Key takeaways
- Christoph Recher says everything that touches the product has to be stainless steel, and the film must be aligned correctly for a good appearance.
- Film or packaging material should be designed so it does not overlap anywhere and is just as big as it needs to be; LoeschPack can design it for customers new to the market.
- Thomas Czioska says recyclable materials can fail to fold, break or seal poorly on automatic machines, and paper-based materials often lack the barrier needed for shelf life.
Common questions
- Why won't some recyclable packaging materials run on a flow wrapper?
- According to Thomas Czioska of LoeschPack, not every packaging material can be handled on an automatic machine. Problems can include material that cannot be folded correctly, breakages inside the packaging material, or material that is not sealable or does not reach the right seal quality. LoeschPack works with a few film suppliers to find out which materials are usable.
- What is the main problem with paper-based flow wrap packaging?
- Thomas Czioska of LoeschPack says paper-based materials normally do not damage the product itself; the problem is shelf life. They often do not have the right protection barrier inside the material, which is why LoeschPack runs many tests with different packaging materials and different products.
- How should flow wrap film be designed to reduce waste?
- Christoph Recher of LoeschPack says it starts with the design of the film or packaging material: it should not overlap anywhere and should be just as big as it needs to be. LoeschPack can design packaging material for customers new to the market and works with suppliers to help select materials.
Transcript
Tom Rougeux, President, Piepenbrock Packaging
So, the primary packaging touches a product, that sounds like it would require the most amount of attention to detail.
Thomas Czioska, Head of Sales & Marketing, LoeschPack
That's right, yes.
Tom Rougeux
So, what kinds of variables go into what touches the product? This is obviously a film, but can you walk us through the thought process that an engineer might have about what touches this product?
Christoph Recher, Sales Manager, LoeschPack
Of course, when you design a machine, you have to be careful how to handle the product inside the machine. You have to be aware what kind of materials you select that touch the product. Of course, everything has to be stainless steel in our industry.
And when you start putting the film around the product, you will pay attention that the film is aligned correctly, that the film is put in around the product, that it gives you a very beautiful appearance, that customers are satisfied with our equipment in the end.
Tom Rougeux
And how does buying a piece of equipment relate to film usage? Sometimes films get off track, sometimes there's overlap in film. What should a good, high-quality piece of equipment deliver in terms of the quality of wrapping that goes into the product?
Christoph Recher
I would say it starts with the design of the film or the packaging material in general. You should design it in a way that it does not overlap anywhere, that it is just as big as it needs to be. We as an experienced supplier can help customers with that.
If they are, for example, new in the market and they have no idea how to design a packaging material, we could do that for them.
Tom Rougeux
Can you help them select materials?
Christoph Recher
Of course. We work together with a couple of suppliers that we also get test materials for our machines for.
Tom Rougeux
Well, let's talk a little bit about recyclable packaging. That's a big issue in the market right now. What's LoeschPack doing?
Thomas Czioska
We're doing a lot of things in this direction. We're working with a few film suppliers together to figure out which kind of packaging material is usable. If you really can handle it on an automatic machine, not every packaging material is possible to handle.
Tom Rougeux
What are some problems with it?
Thomas Czioska
A problem can be that you cannot fold it correctly, that it gets breakages inside the packaging material, as an example, that it's not sealable or the sealing quality is not on the right way, something like that.
Tom Rougeux
Is it possible to damage the product because of the type of material that they would like to use, heavy paper or whatever?
Thomas Czioska
I would not say that you can damage the product itself. The problem is normally with paper-based materials. Nowadays, it's really the shelf life.
They do not have the right protection barrier inside the packaging material. That's why we're making a lot of tests with different kinds of packaging materials, with different kinds of products.
