10 Things to Know Before Buying A Thermoforming Vacuum Packaging Machine

Are you still confused about how to choose the right thermoforming vacuum packaging machine? Whether you're packaging meat, poultry, sausages, cheese, ready-made meals, frozen foods, desserts, or sandwiches, if you want to choose a suitable high-speed automatic vacuum packaging machine to increase your production capacity, then here are 10 things you absolutely need to know:

1. What's Your Packaging Materials

First, you need to tell us what materials you need to package, whether the materials have a regular shape, and provide the corresponding material dimensions and photos. This will allow us to initially determine the type of thermoforming food packaging machine you need. (Currently, mainstream thermoforming vacuum packaging machines are divided into: soft film thermoforming vacuum packaging machines, hard film thermoforming packaging machines, aluminum film thermoforming packaging machines, etc.)

Sandwich

Poultry

Sausage

Meat

Noodle

2. What kind Of Packaging Method Do You Require?

Vacuum packaging or vacuum gas-filled packaging? How are your existing materials packaged?  It would be best if you could provide photos for our reference. If gas filling is required, do you need a single gas or a mixture of gases? If it's a mixture of gases, you will also need to select a gas mixing device (confirm whether a customized gas filling function is needed).

3. What Are Your Packaging Speed Requirements?

Do you have any requirements for the thermoforming packaging machine's packaging speed? For example, what is the daily output and how many hours a day do you work? Determine the number of packages per cycle (how many packages are produced at once).

4. Do You Need Printing Capabilities

If so, do you need ribbon coding, inkjet printing, laser coding, TTO thermal transfer ribbon coding, or weighing, coding, and labeling?

5. Do You Need An Easy-tear Opening

Determine the form of the easy-tear opening and the tooth shape of the cross-cutting knife.

6. Does The Filled Area Need To Be Expanded?

Based on the quantity and speed of each packaging cycle.For example, if the packaging speed is 5 cycles/min, that's equivalent to 60/5 = 12 seconds per cycle. Subtracting the servo film pulling time of 1.5 seconds, there are 12 - 1.5 = 10.5 seconds for personnel to fill the materials. Is this sufficient time? Therefore, you need to confirm whether the manual filling area needs to be extended. Our standard machines have a manual filling area that can accommodate 3-4 people. If the materials are small, the quantity per packaging cycle will be larger, and more personnel may be needed, requiring an extension of the manual filling area.

7. Determine the film feeding method

Fixed length or color mark tracking mode? Does the top and bottom film have patterns or is it blank? If it has patterns, we need to provide the customer with a diagram of the printing color mark positions on the top film so they can print the patterns on the film. After the machine is completed, the customer needs to provide us with a roll of printed top film for testing.

8. Confirm your site dimensions

Are there any limitations on the thermoformer equipment's dimensions due to your site? If your site is small, you can choose a compact thermoforming packaging machine, we have a compact thermoforming packaging  machine with 3M Compact Body. if your site is large, you can customize the size according to your actual production needs.

9. Determine the on-site working conditions

Does your site have three-phase power? Is there an air compressor? (Tips: The minimum air compressor displacement should be 0.6 m³/min or more, preferably 1 m³/min, and the minimum exhaust pressure is 1 MPa. The air compressor should also be equipped with a refrigerated air dryer, and the model of the refrigerated air dryer should be selected according to the air compressor's flow rate.)

10. Are there any other customization requirements

Does the material filling area need baffles (to prevent liquids from dripping onto the sealing area and affecting the sealing quality)? Are there any requirements for the brand and size of the vacuum pump (our Hualian standard thermoforming packaging machine defaults to one Busch 240 vacuum pump externally mounted on a small trolley)？

If you carefully read the above 10 factors to consider before purchasing a automatic thermoforming packaging machine, then congratulations, you are one step closer to choosing the perfect stretch film packaging machine. These seemingly tedious considerations are actually shortcuts to helping you select the right packaging machine. If you have clear answers to these 10 points, your business will be ahead of the competition.