Spotlight on Stick Packaging Machines

MULTI LANE STICK PACK - NICHROME PACKAGING SOLUTIONS

Packaging is not only about hygiene and protecting the product. It's about convenience. Nothing illustrates this better than the stick pack, a form that's growing in popularity around the world.

Remember the slim, one-portion sachets of sugar, milk powder or coffee powder at the cafeteria or in the hotel room? Or those small use-and-throw packs of ketchup or mustard that accompanied the pizza or burger you ordered?

Those slim, single-portion sachets are called stick packs. The stick pack offers consumers convenience (it is easy to open and provides just the right amount of product) plus the freshness of the product is guaranteed. The stick pack is a safe and hygienic packaging form used in both the food industry and the pharmaceutical sector. Although at first glance, stick packs might not seem very environment-friendly because they are packaged individually, they comprise 35% less packaging material than a sachet.

Applications of stick packaging

Stick pack machines are perfect for packaging a wide variety of powder, granular, and liquid products. Powder products can be dense, fine, loose, and particulate materials. Liquids can be substances of differing viscosities including water-like fluids, gels, and pastes.

Stick packaging is very popular for powdered drink mixes, liquid and powder pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals, and granular ingredients like sugar, seasonings, coffee/tea premixes. The medical and dietary supplement industries also highly favour stick packaging.

Stickpack with Servo Auger filler

Why stick packs are a hit

Single serve and controlled dosage packaging is very popular with today’s consumers, spanning across generations and demographics.  Millennials and young professionals love stick packs because they are portable, convenient, and fit unobtrusively into their busy lives. Whether they contain daily medication or favourite coffee, they allow ‘on the go’ consumers to take their lifestyle on the road. The aging population uses stick packs because they are lightweight and often feature easy-open options like tear notches, making it easier for those with limited dexterity to handle and use the product. Parents are attracted to stick packs because they can easily feed their children with a single, easy to open, controlled serving size package that requires little clean up.

Stick packs also offer unmatched economy and convenience for service providers in the hospitality, food or airlines industries. They help these players to provide food and neutraceutical powders in hygienic, single-serve packaging.

How stick pack machines work

The operation of stick pack machines is very similar to that of single lane vertical form fill seal packaging machines: a roll of film is cut and formed into multiple stick packs; the bags are filled with product and then sealed, all in a vertical fashion, at speeds of up to 80 bags per minute per lane.

Volumetric Multiple Cavity Filler

Stick pack machines produce more than one pack at a time and usually have multiple channels to produce several stick packs at a time. Some machines in the market can accommodate up to 20 lanes, producing over 1,200 stick packs per minute!

How to choose the right stick pack machine

When selecting your stick pack machine, it's always better to consult an expert or talk to a packaging machine manufacturer who will understand your requirements and guide you. You will need to consider the desired stick width & length, the product to be packed and its properties, desired speed (packs per minute, hour, shift, etc.) and convenience options (tear notches, chain of packs, pour spouts etc.).

All stick pack machines can utilise different fillers, depending on the product to be packaged.

• Liquid Fillers (for liquid, gel and paste type products such as honey, jam, ketchup, mustard paste, olive oil, shampoo)
• Auger Fillers (for powders and dusty products like milk powder, tea/coffee premix, spice powders, nutraceutical & pharma powders)
• Volumetric Fillers (for free-flowing non-dusty powders like sugar, table salt, pepper)

Stick pack machines can be built to accommodate different stick widths, convenient designs including pour spouts and specialty die-cut shapes, and can also feature easy-open options like tear notches and micro-perforations.

You may want to print expiration dates or lot codes on your stick packaging. There are many multi-lane printing options available for the task.

Stickpack with Multi-Piston Filler

Conclusion

As with all capital investments, it pays to go with a reliable and experienced packaging partner like Nichrome. Nichrome will work with you to understand your product and operations define key points and then provide the most accurate configuration for your specific needs. After all, you will be relying on this equipment to handle a vital part of your production process, so it must deliver.

As India’s leading packaging machine manufacturer, Nichrome designs, develops, manufactures, sells, and services flexible packaging machinery for food and non-food industries worldwide. Nichrome’s decades of industry experience, and focus on packaging innovation and project integration makes them uniquely poised to be your trusted packaging partner, for projects and enterprises large or small.

Status of flexible packaging in modern India.

Over the past 8 to 10 years, India has achieved tremendous growth in terms of industrialization and globalization. The inherent result of which, there has been tremendous demand of modern technologies and upgradation of quality of packaging and in general, the quality of life. Food industry offers what is unquestionable, one of the largest opportunities for growth in India today. The industry will play a vital and positive role in the Indian economy. To reach such phenomenon growths, it is quite evident that the processing and preservation technology of food products has to keep pace with the growth. Hence, it is expected that the modern technology of flexible packaging like Aseptic Packaging, Barrier Packaging, and Controlled Atmospheric Packaging will make big inroads in India.

Potential

The growth in the flexible packaging industry in India is mainly driven by the food and the pharmaceutical packaging sectors. The large and growing Indian middle class, along with the growth in organised retailing in the country are fuelling growth in the flexible packaging industry. Another factor, which has provided substantial stimulus to the packaging industry, is the rapid growth of exports, which requires superior packaging standards for the international market.

Flexible Packaging

The Indian packaging industry is dominated by plastic flexible packaging. The traditional rigid packaging users have also been seen to shift to flexible packaging in recent times. According to industry sources, the main reason for this is that flexible packages are found aesthetically attractive, cost-effective and sturdy. Consumer preference for the use of convenient packaging and packaged products in affordable quantities in laminates is also one of the main reasons that have contributed to the growth of flexible packaging in India. The food-processing sector is the largest user of flexible packaging, accounting for more than 50 percent of the total demand. The flexible packaging segment is estimated to be growing at over 35 percent annually.

Laminated products including form-fill-seal pouches, laminated tubes and Tetra packs are growing at around 30% p.a. This also represents a corresponding additional requirement of capacity in the manufacturing sector. This means that the production will need to increase nearly 100% from the current levels. This is a huge challenge before the nation and a great opportunity for the players in the Flexible Packaging arena. This also opens possibilities for new entrants in the field provided they meet the changing scenario of customer needs and new challenges.

Initiatives are needed to convert the large unpacked commodities into processed, packed and well-presented commodities. India’s imports at 20-25% with a value of $125 million of its total packaging machinery indicate further opportunities not only for Indian companies to increase their share in domestic market but also for international companies to explore new business opportunities in India. The food & beverage and pharmaceutical segments occupy the largest share in the packaging industry, accounting for 85% and 10%, respectively. The plastic packaging market is expanding rapidly registering a growth of 20-25% per annum and is valued at 6.8 million tonnes while the paper packaging industry stands at 7.6 million tonnes. The packaging industry is poised to grow rapidly led by the increasing use of innovative packaging equipment and the rising volumes in flexible packaging market. So it can easily be concluded that future is bright for flexible packaging in India for this decade.

As India’s pioneer and leading provider of integrated packaging solutions, Nichrome is well known for its expertise and experience in flexible packaging. From VFFS and HFFS machines for primary packaging to turnkey packaging solutions for end-to-end lines, Nichrome promises sound project design capabilities, strong R&D, and single-source convenience for enterprises of all scales.

Credits: Milind Bhole, CEO, Neil & Sid Consultants, Pune.

Carrying Indian rice across the world: Nichrome Packaging

Rice has been one of India’s biggest exports for some years now, and the demand seems to be growing. Iran and Saudi Arabia are two of the biggest importers of Indian basmati rice, accounting for 40-45% share.

According to ICRA, Indian basmati rice exports are expected to post strong growth in FY2018 and FY 2019. While the Middle East, Britain and United States import premium basmati rice, India also exports non-basmati varieties of rice to African and Asian countries. Thailand is a strong contender for non-basmati rice exports, and last year, Africa’s import demand shifted from India to Thailand, on cost competitiveness. However, with depleted stocks and rising value of the Thai currency (baht), importers have turned their gaze back on India.

Packaging plays a crucial role in rice exports, especially of premium varieties in retail packs. It needs to be accurate, properly sealed and strong enough to withstand the journey down the supply chain till the retail shelf, protecting the purity and flavour of the contents.

As India’s leading packaging solutions manufacturer, Nichrome has decades of experience and expertise in automatic packaging of Indian rice and other grains.

EXCEL PLUS INTELLIGENT ELECTRONIC WEIGH FILLER

Nichrome’s VFFS Excel Plus Intelligent Electronic Weigh Filler is a star performer amongst Nichrome’s range of grain packaging machines. It packs up to 80 pouches/min, in quantities from 100 gm up to 10 Kgs. The automation is equipped with CE marked PLC controller and touch-screen HMI. There is a pneumatic/servo motor driven system for horizontal sealing mechanism, with adjustable stroke of cross sealing jaws for optimum performance. Designed and manufactured to stringent quality standards, the Excel Plus offers quick and easy change-over, and integration to upstream and downstream machines.

Allied equipment includes a dynamic check weigher with tendency control facility, online metal detection system, dust extraction system, date/batch coding device, and baling machine for secondary packaging.

Pouch formats include the CSPP, Pentaseal, Four Line Seal and Centre Seal Gusset Pouch with ‘D’ cut. The flexible and efficient Excel Plus Intelligent Electronic Weigh Filler can also be used for sugar packaging, tea packaging, pulses/grains packaging and whole spices.

For rice and grain packaging plants, Nichrome also offers the Flexibale 450, a fast and accurate baling machine for integrated secondary packaging.

Visit for more:www.nichrome.com

Growing demand for Packaged Grains in India

Growing demand for Packaged Grains in India

As online shopping grows in popularity due to its convenience and attractive marketing, the demand for well packaged grains is booming. Any manufacturer, who wants his grains to sell online, or even to stand out amongst stiff competition on the supermarket shelf, has to invest in quality packaging.

Who better than Nichrome to partner in this Endeavour? As India's leading packaging solutions manufacturer, Nichrome has four decades of industry experience and a proven reputation for innovation, manufacturing and support.

Nichrome offers a wide range of VFFS, HFFS and Multilane machines for grain and seed packaging. Depending on the size and type of pouch you desire, Nichrome offers the optimal solution.

For staples like rice, wheat and lentils, Indian consumers prefer to buy larger quantities. Nichrome's sturdy “Pentaseal Pouch” is a great solution for quantities of 2 Kg and 5 Kg as it increases the pouch strength and stands tall on the retail shelf. Hygiene is maintained and spillage reduced.

Other attractive pouch formats include Flexi Block, Centre Seal Pillow Pouch (CSPP), Gusset Pouch, 3-Side Seal, 4-Side Seal, 4-Line Seal besides Stand-up Packs.

From 100 gm packs to 25 Kg bags, Nichrome offers the full gamut of automatic grain packaging machines. These ensure the pouches are perfectly sealed, with accuracy and speed for minimal wastage. Being fully automated machines, they are economical too as they reduce need for man power, consume less electricity and are fast, assuring higher productivity!

Another advantage of Nichrome’s innovative packaging solutions is that they are versatile and can be used for other applications as well. Sugar packaging, tea packaging, whole spices, even detergents and pharmaceuticals can be packaged on these automatic filling machines.

Contact Nichrome at www.nichrome.com

POWDER PACKAGING PERFECTED: NICHROME INDIA

When it comes to powder packaging, few can match the expertise of Nichrome India. Nichrome is the leading pouch packaging machine manufacturer with over 7000 installations across 45 countries to its credit. With experience spanning 4 decades, Nichrome is well known for its innovation and indigenization of the latest technologies for Indian customers and applications.

Nichrome’s SALTPACK Vertical Form Fill Seal Machine offers a high-speed, automatic packaging solution for the salt industry. The products parts are designed of special grade materials suitable for salt handling and salt pouch packing. It involves the lowest running cost through reputed CE marked PLC housed in dust tight electrical panel for machine control.

Nichrome’s Salt Packaging Machine is equipped with unique film pulling technique which prevents film and product wastage. It packs up to 1000 gms in CSPP pouches at the rate of 60 packs per minute.

Salt Packaging Machine

For other powders such as Spices, Atta (Flour Products), Milk Powder, Coffee Powder, Premixes, Instant Mixes, Agro Chemicals, Pesticides, Nutraceutical and Pharma Powders, Nichrome offers a wide range of solutions to suit individual needs. Moreover, the Powder Packaging Machines come with a choice of fillers so they can be used for diverse products. It is this versatility that makes Nichrome the preferred choice for pouch packaging solutions.

MAXIMA 400 WITH SERVO AUGER

For example, Nichrome’s Multilane PV-125 is a versatile Pharmaceutical Packaging Machine with 5 different filler options. When fitted with a Positive Displacement Pump Filler, it packs Pastes, Cream Gel, Lotions, etc. in convenient 4 side seal sachets. For ORS and other free flowing and granular powders, capsules, tablets & lozenges, the Volumetric Slide Gate Cup Filler / Drum Filler is used.

Nichrome also offers a range of Horizontal Form Fill Seal Machines incorporating new-gen linear technology from Totpack of Spain. Totpack’s compact and versatile design offers both single and perforated chain of pouches. Totpack machines are equipped with well designed duplex modules for higher outputs, and promises easy and quick change over. Ideal for powders like ORS, Pharmaceutical, Spices, Milk, Coffee, Health Drinks, Instant Mixes, Premixes, Coconut & Hair Dye; and free flowing powders and granular products like ORS, Sugar, Rice, Cheese Balls, Pulses & Detergents, Totpack HFFS machines also pack viscous products like ketchup, pickles, ghee, shampoo, gels, etc. and free flowing liquids like milk, lassi, health drinks, juices, liquor, etc.

HFFS Machines

Contact Nichrome for customized packaging solutions for your factory. Nichrome collaborates to study and understand specific client needs, and then tailor solutions that optimize space, resources and productivity. For Powder Packaging, Nichrome offers project design and project integration capabilities covering the stages of primary packaging, secondary packaging and tertiary packaging.

For more details:www.nichrome.com