The Complete Guide to Filling Machinery (2021)
Are you the owner of a production line that packages and sells products? Or maybe you are just interested in the development of new business opportunities?
Either way, you may consider the investment to acquire filling machines. Through filling machinery, you can increase your production output while minimizing wastage and pollution.
Before you plan for such investment, it is important to evaluate different aspects related to this industry. In this article, we have collected the main information regarding the filling machine for you to evaluate a new business opportunity.
What is a filling machine?
Filling machines are necessary pieces of equipment to fill a liquid or other materials within a container. Such types of machinery are employed in numerous industries, ranging from beverages, food, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals.
Their main purpose is to satisfied higher production demand while complying with hygienic standards. Products are completely sealed under aseptic conditions assuring consumers’ safety.
Especially during COVID-19, the filling machines process is free from contamination, as it minimizes human labor.
Filling machine types & applications
There is a significant wide variety of filling machine types. We have listed the main factors to consider before opting for a solution or another:
- Type and shape of the container
- End product viscosity or consistency
- The overall volume of production
All these aspects need to be taken into account to ensure the equipment can handle your materials. The most utilized filling machine are the liquid, powder, capsule, and gel filling machines.
Liquid filling machine
Liquid filling machines can be further differentiated into manual, semi-automatic, automatic, and in-line liquid filling machines.
Manual liquid filling machine: Ideal for smaller-scale production lines, these machines are manually operated, assuring high accuracy. However, the output is lower compared to automatic solutions.
Semi-automatic liquid filling machines: They are the most flexible solutions satisfying the necessity of small and medium businesses.
Automatic liquid filling machines: Such equipment is used for large companies to reduce manual labor, speeding up the production process.
In-line liquid filling machines: In-line machines are cost-effective and easily adjustable for production needs. Overall, they are one of the most popular choices to fill products in a straight line.
Other options may include rotary filling machines and volumetric filling machines. The rotary filling machine takes its name because of the introduction of various filling heads positioned in circles.
On the other hand, the volumetric filling machines are designed to measure and release a range of free-flowing liquids pushed in the containers by a piston. Liquid filling machines are commonly used for wine, water, syrup, oil, and condiments.
Powder filling machines
Powder filling machines are largely utilized in the food, cosmetic and chemical industries. Their purpose is to pour granules or powders into the containers accurately. These filling solutions are used for products such as coffee, sugar, washing detergents, and so on.
Capsule filling machines
Capsule filling machinery is used mainly in the pharmaceutical industry. Hard or soft tablets, pills, and capsules may be filled through the utilization of such equipment.
Gel filling machines
This type of machinery is specifically designed to fit viscose materials into containers. A gel filling material is used for wax, creams, and lotions.
Filling machine working principle
The filling machine working principle differ based on the various types mentioned above. In general, the process starts by collecting a specific volume or weight of material from bulk. The product is batched and accurately dispensed in containers to a specific level.
Different machines can handle different viscosity materials and can fill the containers at different capacities and speeds.
General benefits of filling machines for your business
As for the working principle, each type of filling machine has its perks. Let us now look at some of these primary advantages of filling machinery.
Consistency and reliability
By using filling machines, uncertainties are out of the picture. Containers are filled according to the required volume of product. In addition, a properly maintained filling machine ensures that the containers to be aseptic, free of harmful bacteria.
Higher ROI
Filling machines are acquired by business owners who think about future development. Based on the installment, filling machinery can largely increase production volumes and speed. We are talking about tens of thousands of containers per hour. Furthermore, the new generation filling machine has a low operating cost with reduced energy consumption.
Versatility and ease to use
The filling machine is highly customizable and offers many solutions. Depending on the differences in product viscosity, the filling machine can have different setups handling all containers shape. Ultimately, filling machinery has a simple operator interface. Operators select the time and volume of product required for completing each cycle. For most solutions, physical adjustments during production are minimal.
How to maintain your filling machine
Once acquired the equipment, it is essential to run regular maintenance checks. We want to share with you some guidelines to follow to protect your investment.
Cleaning & preventive maintenance
As a business owner, you want to avoid machinery downtime to affect your profits. It is required to clean the equipment to avoid any blockages regularly. To ensure optimal functionality, managers need to arrange for a preventive maintenance plan. Implementing regular checks is instrumental in solving potential problems before they occur, thus preventing breakdowns.
Regular maintenance assignments and training
How should preventive maintenance plans be carried out? Managers should assign tasks to the personnel to run basic checks and perform cleaning. Machine operators should receive in-depth training on how the machines function and their upkeep. Once abnormalities are spotted, staff can report to the maintenance team.
Conclusion
Filling machines offers one-stop solutions to bring small and large businesses’ production to its highest performance.
Founded in 1998, Tech-Long Packaging Machinery has two decades of experience manufacturing personalized solutions for the industrial production process. Among these solutions, we offer water treatment and beverage pre-treatment systems, filling machines series, blowing-filling-capping series, labeling series, conveying series, secondary packaging equipment.
With us, your product and business are safe to generate revenue. Contact us to explore potential partnership opportunities.