A globally recognized leader in weighing and packaging automation, Smart Weigh has launched its Secondary Packaging Machines Solution for Bagged Food. Now, food manufacturers have access to a comprehensive solution for secondary packaging of their bagged food products, reducing human intervention, increasing productivity, and offering a host of additional benefits.
Primary packaging has historically taken up the most space on a food production line. Smart Weigh highlights the growing importance of secondary packaging as a critical step in achieving operational excellence. As production rates are increasing and expectations for product quality are growing, the management of the finished bag is as important as the initial weighing, filling, or sealing of the product.
Addressing a Critical Gap in Food Packaging Lines
In food processing plants, once products are filled into plastic bags, commonly referred to as pillow bags or sachets, they often accumulate at the end of the production line, which leads to a series of problems, such as bottlenecks, excessive manual labor, and inadequate grouping and presentation.
Designed to address the challenge of handling loose finished bags, Smart Weigh’s Secondary Packaging Machines Solution transforms them into compact, manageable, scalable, and saleable packs. It enables efficient sorting, counting, and packaging of products, thereby enhancing production line productivity and reducing the need for manual intervention.
Two Core Packaging Approaches for Bagged Products
Secondary packaging is an important step in the process of packaging products, whether these are final goods or materials that need to be further processed before they are ready for market.
Smart Weigh offers two secondary packaging options:
1. Bag-in-Bag Packaging (Packed into a Bigger Outer Bag)
One of the more common types of packaging is when a large number of small bags of product are placed inside a larger bag, known as the outbag. This is a simpler way to handle large quantities of packaged products.
The process begins with finished bags on a conveyor belt. These bags are counted and grouped according to predefined quantities. A larger outer bag is placed and the grouped products are loaded, sealed, and discharged.
This method is ideal for:
- Family packs and bulk purchase formats
- Wholesale grouped products
- Multi-count snack or beverage sachets
- Organized storage and transport solutions
Weighing loose parts and materials as a bulk or as a complete unit is an easier and less labor-intensive way to handle materials, ensure more consistent packaged weights, and facilitate packaging.
To further enhance efficiency and accuracy, this process can incorporate a counting multihead weigher integrated with a large vertical packing machine or pouch packing machine. Unlike standard multihead weighers that only use weighing functions, this system combines both counting by quantity and weighing by weight to ensure the correct quantity in each outer bag. This reduces manual labor, improves consistency in packaged weights, and streamlines the overall packaging process.
2. Retail Bundle Wrapping (Wrapped Together as a Bundle)
For retail applications, the bag bundling solution by Smart Weigh seals each bag in a bundle using a film, giving a presentable and marketable pack suitable for supermarket shelves and special offers.
The individual bags are not sealed to each other in the same manner as in the bag-in-bag arrangement but are kept as individual units while forming a composite product.
Common use cases include:
- Snack multipacks and biscuit bundles
- Instant noodle value packs
- Promotional “multi-buy” retail offerings
- Beverage and coffee sachet groupings
This format helps increase visibility of the product, and also enables easier handling for retailers. It is a great way to promote products through special offers and discounts on multi-packs.
Specialized Machines for Different Bag Formats
While not all bagged products are the same, in the retail bundling application Smart Weigh has two different machine designs to accommodate the range of products available in the market.
The Individual Pillow Bag Secondary Wrapping Machines are used when the bags are to be discharged singly. The machine counts and accumulates the bags and then picks them up in sequence to present them individually to the wrapper in the required pillow configuration.
Chain Pillow Bag Secondary Wrapping Machines are intended for use with bags that are chained. These machines are designed to take into account the specific characteristics of the flow of chained bags and are therefore able to ensure a continuous supply of bags to be wrapped and a regular wrapping of the product.
By adapting the machine design to the product format, we achieve a more stable process, less variation, and therefore a higher quality of the final packed product.
Enhancing Efficiency Across the Production Line
Smart Weigh’s Secondary Packaging Machines Solution presents a wide range of benefits including:
- Improved Line Efficiency: Keeps pace with high-speed primary packaging systems
- Reduced Labor Dependency: Minimizes manual counting, grouping, and handling
- Consistent Packaging Output: Ensures uniform pack sizes and professional appearance
- Reduced Product Damage: Limits excessive handling and potential breakage
- Optimized Storage and Transport: Creates compact, easy-to-manage units
- Enhanced Retail Appeal: Produces clean, organized packaging for better shelf presence
Designed for Flexibility and Integration
One of the key features of the Smart Weigh system is its flexibility. The machines are designed to integrate seamlessly with upstream packaging equipment, ensuring a continuous and efficient production flow.
Manufacturers can configure the system based on:
- Bag size and material
- Desired bundle quantity or format
- Production speed requirements
- Facility layout and operational constraints
The system also includes other features like a simple-to-operate control panel, a maintenance-friendly design, and a reliable sealing system.
Supporting Scalable Growth in Food Manufacturing
Primary product packaging is no longer static as manufacturers are bringing new products to market, expanding into new retail channels and adding new variants to their product lines. Flexible and scalable secondary packaging solutions allow for future-proof adaptation to changing SKUs, product configurations, packaging design, and customer demand. Our Secondary Packaging Machines Solution helps manufacturers meet these demands.
Driving Global Excellence in Weighing and Packaging Solutions
Manufactured with the latest technologies, quality materials, and strict testing and inspection processes, Smart Weigh offers a wide range of automation packaging solutions, with long-term experience in multihead weigher, linear weigher, check weigher, metal detector, and customized automatic packaging lines.
With more than 2,000 systems installed in over 50 countries for over 1,000 global customers in the food, pharmaceutical, and non-food manufacturing industries, Smart Weigh clearly understands the problems customers face and works closely with them to deliver solutions that will increase their production efficiency, productivity, and capacity.
About Smart Weigh
Established in 2012, Smart Weigh Packaging Machine Co., Ltd. is a global leader in high precision weighing and integrated packaging solutions, which offer a wide variety of technical innovation solutions for packaging efficiency enhancement.
For more info, visit: https://www.smartweighpack.com/
Media Contact
Company Name: Smart Weigh Packaging Machinery Co., Ltd.
Contact Person: Support
Email: Send Email
Phone: +86 760 87961168
City: Zhongshan City
State: Guangdong
Country: China
Website: www.smartweighpack.com
