Packaging Development and Stacking Technology (I)

In the past 30 years, automatic cassette technology has become commonplace. In order to keep up with the ever-increasing production line speed, the improvement of this technology and equipment has also focused on increasing the palletizing speed. The speed of the palletizer is dramatically increased to 25 boxes at 25 boxes per minute. Because the products to be palletized have not changed much, the basic foundation of the palletizer design is largely unchanged. The design of the machine is based on the idea of ​​mainly using carton boxes.
From a palletizing point of view, there are many advantages to using carton packaging. The cartons range in size from 330 mm to 500 mm in length, from 250 mm to 450 mm in width, and from 150 mm to 380 mm in height. Thick corrugated cartons also allow for rough handling without causing damage to the product.
Both packaging trends have become increasingly popular over the past five years and have also had a profound impact on the design of palletizers. The first trend is the emergence of warehouse supermarkets and the resulting packaging changes. The second trend is to reduce costs and reduce the amount of packaging pressure.
The development of warehouse-style supermarkets and warehouse supermarkets has forced factories to cater to their product needs. The main difference between warehouse supermarkets and traditional retail stores is that products are displayed differently. Retail stores provide customers with individually packaged products neatly placed on shelves. And warehouse supermarkets provide customers with bundles or larger packages, usually on pallets. This idea has led to a series of changes in the packaging process.
The display box warehouse type supermarket requires the manufacturer to put some products on the four high corner posts but the short side of the cartons. For warehouse supermarkets, this display box has more benefits - easier handling and handling, and it is not easy to fold.
However, the main challenge of this type of packaging is that if the product is accidentally handled from the case packer to the stretch film wrapping machine, the product will fall out of the short side of the carton. Each time the carton changes direction, stops, or starts, the inner product has the possibility of dumping. Therefore, be careful when turning, accelerating, and decelerating the carton.
Small cartons For some products, warehouse supermarkets only hold a small amount of cartons. For example, a retail store will pick up a large carton containing 24 bottles of shampoo, return to the store to open the large carton, and place all the shampoo on the shelf. Now warehouse supermarkets only want cartons containing 4 bottles of shampoo. The purpose is that the customer is likely to buy all the 4 bottles of shampoo.
Traditional roller conveyor belts and palletizing designs are not suitable for small cartons. Most closed center conveyors are designed for 48 mm and have a center-to-center distance of 62 mm. This means that when the product packaging is less than 125 mm, the roller design is not suitable.
Print Design Warehouse supermarkets are increasingly looking to use attractive packaging instead of brown shipping corrugated cartons to attract customers' attention. Some manufacturers will be ready to put the product "puppet".
Corrugated packaging is extremely durable and does not show any damage even in heavy handling. Complex printing and packaging must be handled more carefully, otherwise scratches and scratches are easily visible.
Reducing packaging costs There are two aspects to reducing packaging costs. The first is direct packaging costs. Simply changing the thickness of the corrugated box can have a big impact on the cost structure of the product. Manufacturers are seeking ways to reduce the thickness of product packaging and the thickness of corrugated boxes. They also want to use shrink film instead of more expensive corrugated paper.
The second is indirect packaging costs. This includes the transportation costs and the costs to the retail location and the handling of packaging due to the weight and size of the product.
Thinner packaging and carton manufacturers are constantly seeking ways to reduce the cost of product packaging and shipping containers. However, thinner packaging and cartons make the product more vulnerable to damage. Therefore, gentle handling and smooth conveying are more necessary.
Replacement of cartons by pallets and liners A clear trend in packaging is the replacement of fully enclosed cartons with trays and shrink film. In addition, insiders have proposed using a complete shrink film to replace corrugated liners or trays, and many manufacturers are trying to use this shrink film instead of all corrugated paper packaging. (To be continued)