Are you flexible to catch up with this dry food packaging trend?

Driven by the consumer lifestyle changes, dry food packaging has transformed from essentially functional to a highly influential factor in consumer purchasing decision. New age pouches address consumer needs for convenience and can offer attractive price points for ever-conscious consumer.

As more and more consumers choose healthy snacking instead of meals, it is beneficial for manufacturers to offer smaller versions of their best-sellers, and most often in flexible bags or pouches. Consumers’ demand for portable, lightweight, and fuss-free packs that can be thrown into the backpack or car for on-the-move consumption also proves to be a cost-effective packaging method for manufacturers. At the same time, functional features like tear notches, zippers, fitments, closures and handle holes make the retail pouch easy to open, easy to drink/eat or dispense from and easy to re-close.

Retail pouches present better sustainability compared to rigid packaging. Lightweight, flexibility and compactness allows more efficient product transportation across the supply chain reducing overall carbon footprint and costs. Not to forget greener benefits including reduction in food waste, a fact gaining wide spread attention globally. Multi-serving pouches re-close and safeguard product freshness to minimise waste. On the other hand, smaller and flexible single-serving pouch allows to empty the content completely and can be consumed in a single sitting leaving minimal waste.

Global surveys in the past couple of years have indicated a trend in the overall shrinking of flexible packaging for snack food. Characterised by continuous and rapid change, evident in new products and format sizes and greater demands when it comes to the appearance and handling of packaging.

These shifting preferences boost the demand for packaging machines built for speed and flexibility.

With its broad range of pouch types and well-founded know-how, HDG pouch packaging machinery can react flexibly to these new requirements. HDG pouch types are as varied as the products in the food industry in this respect. Regardless of whether powder, granulate, grains, pastes or liquids are involved — HDG provides the ideal packaging solution.

All HDG packaging systems have been developed and produced at the business location in Lindlar near Cologne, Germany, since the company was established. This means that consistent and outstanding quality ‘Made in Germany’ can be achieved.

A packaging solution can therefore be developed for every kind of dry food product which, in addition to providing the product with optimum protection, simultaneously stands out from competitor products through practical handling characteristics and an attractive design.

HDG has demonstrated in numerous projects that these new requirements can be met in a flexible, non-compromising manner. With pouch format up to 600 mm width and speeds up to 360 pouches per minute*, these machines are characterized by high capacity as well as a maximum flexibility with regard to different pouch formats, pouch types and products.

Future-oriented Technology:

Thanks to the combination of deep-rooted expertise and latest future-oriented technology, HDG has succeeded in further developing horizontal form, fill and seal machines with rotary turret system.

Besides a larger size range, the compact packaging machine convinces with the new tool-less quick-change system. By this, both the set-up time for different formats, and the cleaning of the machine can be reduced significantly.

These packaging machines are equipped with the proven HDG quick-change features at the turret. This means that not only the change-over time of different formats can be reduced to a minimum but also the cleaning during product changes can be optimised. Thanks to the consistently advanced quick-change system, a tool-less format change can be implemented by one person within less than 20 minutes.

To enable the application of very thin film material, the film transport system of HDG machines has been optimized so that the pouches are supported by a special vacuum technique during transport through the cutting stations.

As all sealing stations of the machine are driven by servo motors so that sealing times of pouch seals can be set independently from each other. This means that sensitive or cheaper film materials can be handled without having to find compromises in closure safety and quality.

Upcoming service and cleaning works can be done quickly and ergonomically thanks to the swivelling top sealing unit.

HDG can supply the complete product validation as well as total OCR print validation including integrated camera system as an option. In order to meet the downstream packaging process, an integrated system for line merging is incorporated which also belongs to the HDG scope of development and delivery.

Functions also include metal detection with automatic product separation, as well as rejection of incorrect weights before the pouch filling, a fully automatic film splicer and an integrated station to close the zipper. This provides a very customer friendly system.

Universal applications:

• Different pouch formats and capacities, depending on the design
• Production and filling of pouches with a pouch format up to 600 mm width
• Production of 3 and 4 side sealed pouches, stand-up pouches, bottom fold pouches and contour pouches, optionally with reclosing systems
• Ideally suitable for a broad range of products, including powder, granulate, chunky products, liquids, creams or tissues

Quality & Technology:

All HDG machines are constructed in a modular style and can be combined with dosing systems for dry and wet products. Various pouch sizes and styles can be retrofitted at any time. HDG machines are designed along with the highest hygiene and safety standards that most multinational companies demand and can be delivered with the latest Pack-ML standards.

• Maximum pouch quality and a high capacity in the most confined space through use of the HDG rotary table system
• Maximum pouch reliability and quality, thanks to temperature and ultrasonic sealing and electronic monitoring of sealing pressure
• Fully automatic film roll changing during machine operation through use of roll splicers
• Compact design
• Robust, high-quality design through standard use of solid screwed aluminium plates
• Economical handling of packaging material, with a material saving of up to 10% when compared to linear machines

Flexibility

• Simple and rapid HDG system conversion and expansion options, thanks to the modular design
• Rapid availability of spare parts (due to the identical basic design of many assemblies)
• Round table with segmented design ensures simple and speedy product and format changes

* Note : The machine speed depends on pouch sizes, machine model & number of filling lines.