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Product Testing Before Machine Design
Thomas Czioska, Head of Sales & Marketing, and Christoph Recher, Sales Manager, of LoeschPack explain what is tested before a packaging machine is designed. Czioska says LoeschPack checks fragility, stickiness and surfaces and measures product tolerances. Recher explains that flow wrappers tolerate more dimensional variation than tightly specified 100-gram chocolate bars, and that out-of-spec products are rejected before the machine to prevent jams.
Key takeaways
- Thomas Czioska says LoeschPack needs product samples up front to check fragility, stickiness and surfaces, and to measure tolerances.
- Christoph Recher explains that flow wrappers can work with higher product dimension variation than classic 100-gram bars, which must stay within very tight specifications.
- For flow wrapping, size parts are designed to accommodate the biggest product, and out-of-spec products are rejected before the machine so they do not cause a jam.
Common questions
- What product tests are done before a packaging machine is designed?
- According to Thomas Czioska of LoeschPack, they check how fragile a product is, whether it is sticky, and its surfaces, such as whether it is flat or slippery. They also measure the products to confirm tolerances, so the machine can handle products as they later come out of the processing line.
- Can a flow wrapper handle products with size variation?
- Christoph Recher of LoeschPack explains that flow wrappers can work with higher product dimension variation than classic 100-gram chocolate bars, which must stay within very tight specifications so the folding mechanism does not damage them. For flow wrapping, size parts are designed to accommodate the biggest product you want to pack.
- How do you prevent jams from out-of-spec products on a flow wrapper?
- According to Christoph Recher of LoeschPack, products that are out of specification are rejected before they reach the machine, so they will not cause a jam. This works alongside size parts designed to accommodate the biggest product you want to pack.
Transcript
Tom Rougeux, President, Piepenbrock Packaging
So, besides the material, what else needs to be tested before an actual machine is designed and built and delivered? What kind of testing goes on with the customer's product?
Thomas Czioska, Head of Sales & Marketing, LoeschPack
So, we normally check how fragile a product is. We check if it's sticky or not sticky. Yeah, the surfaces, if it's a flat one, if it's slippy, all these things.
So, we need to have products up front to figure that out. And we normally also measure the products to be sure that we have the right tolerances, that we can also handle the tolerance of the products when they're coming out of the processing line later on. These are all the things we need to have in taking consideration.
Tom Rougeux
So, it sounds like that a flat chocolate bar would be one set of considerations, but if they had a bunch of almonds or nuts on top of that, that would create size variation. That might be another consideration.
Thomas Czioska
Exactly, yes. That's right.
Tom Rougeux
And how does film wrapping of that product, how do you design a high-speed film wrapper for a product that has some variation? Is that something Loesch can do effectively, or is it a problem for everyone? Tell us about that.
Christoph Recher, Sales Manager, LoeschPack
Okay, so typically, when you're talking about bigger variations, we're talking about a flow wrap product, because flow wrapper can work with higher product dimension variation, whereas the classic 100-gram bars, chocolate bars, are usually within a very, very tight specification, so that the folding mechanism does not damage the product itself. When it comes to flow wrapping, you have to design, in the end, size parts that accommodate the biggest product you want to pack.
Tom Rougeux
Okay.
Christoph Recher
And besides that, you can also say that whether or not a product is out of specification, it will be rejected before the machine, so that you will not cause a jam.
