Auto Bagging Machine Beginner’s Guide (2021 Update)

An auto bagging machine refers to the group of equipment that automatically fills the desired product in the bag or pouch and seals them. An auto bagger is capable of doing the following things on its own:

• Make bags or packages according to the type of product.
• Perfectly weighs the product.
• Fill the bag or container with pre-weighed product.
• Seal the bag or container perfectly.
• Count the number of packages produced in each cycle.

An auto bagger is used to automatically insert the material in the flexible bag or pouch and seal them. Your company can immediately start experiencing increased production, increased consistency, greater accuracy, reduced labour costs, reduced workstations, and product safety. There are different types of auto bagging machines, and not every machine is suitable for every industry.

Automatic packaging machinery and automatic packaging line work together to give the desired results. There is a wide range of industries in which people are using auto bagging machines. But the question is which industries take the most benefit from the machine and produce cost-effective products. Following are some industries that benefited most from the auto bagging machine:

The consumer products industry

The word consumer products have a wide range of industrial categories in them. It includes everything we use in our daily lives, like our needs for health and hygiene, cleaning, personal care, etc. Following are some examples of most suitable products under consumer products which use automatic packing machine:

• Pillow bags, bedsheets, and stand-up bags
• Cartons and cases for snack food packaging, candy and confectionery.
• Packets that need vacuum packaging systems like dry dog food, cat kibbles, rigid containers like ribs, and premade pouches all use auto bagging systems.

The cosmetics industry

There is no uncertainty that the cosmetic industry is one of the largest industries to use auto packaging machines. Products for beauty and personal care, facial care, hair products and body products all are packed and dispensed by an auto bagging machine.

Food and Beverage industry

This industry is enormous and uses much of the automated packaging equipment. It includes:

• Coffee
• Dry foods
• Fresh foods
• Frozen foods
• Liquids including juice
• Pasta and spaghetti
• Rice
• Snack food

The Nutraceutical Industry

As the name suggests, this industry focused on health and nutrition. It includes dietary supplements, engineered foods, herbal products, and isolated nutrients.

The Pharmaceutical Industry

The pharmaceutical industry needs packaging for powdered drugs, and because manual handling of powdered drugs is complicated, automated packaging of widely used in this industry.

In the modern world where the competition of everything is very high, and auto bagging machine will assist you to stand out from your brand. The packaging done by these machines is unique and creative, attracting more customers and thus helping you in growing your business. Following are some benefits of auto bagging machine one should know:

• Automatic packing machines are huge investments initially, but they will eventually lower your operational and labour costs. They will help you produce more products in less time. Also, this machine wastes less material than manual packaging, so that it will help you in the long run.
• Auto bagger offers flexible packaging by simply adjusting the gripper. This feature makes it easier to pack various products with ease and make you popular among consumers. It will improve your brand value.
• Filling bottles, sachets, and bags, etc. Are different types of packaging options available in auto baggers. It will help you produce various kinds of products using the same machine, thus reducing expenses.
• The shelf life of the product will increase as these packages will help your product to remain fresh.
• Auto baggers will reduce the noise pollution in your factory. It will guarantee smooth and power-efficient material filling.
• Automatic packaging machines can perform all the packaging tasks like a filling, capping, sealing, and labelling with little human intervention. This machine ensures the reliability of the packaging process with the help of the latest technologies and modern packaging.
• The fully automated system is user friendly and has a touchscreen with HMI, PLC, etc.

The types of bagging machines differ based upon the type of product you are packing. Different product requires different kinds of packaging. Following are some common types of packaging used:

Open Mouth Bag Fillers

Products like powder, seeds, granules or even rocks are used to fill open mouth style bags.

These automatic bag filling machines fills open mouth style bags. The products are placed in the bag under the action of an auger or force of gravity. In some cases, conveyors can also be used. The auto bagger also weighs the bag after it gets filled.

Valve Bag Filling Machine

Valve bag filling machines fill valve type bags efficiently and perfectly. Powder or granular products are usually the materials packed in this machine. There is a spout in the machine that gets inserted into and then enfolded by the bag opening. It will minimize the undesired effects like contamination with dust or product spilling. There are four different types of valve bag filling machines in the market. These include an auger, air, impeller, and finally, gravity-fed machines. These machines can fill the following types of bags:

• Paper bags
• Plastic bags
• Polywoven bags

Some machines can fill these bags up to the extent of 110 pounds. The weighing range for these bags is 20-110 pounds. Around 24 bags per minute are produced in an auto bagging machine.

Valve machines can be used in the following industries

• Aggregate and stone industries
• Agricultural seed and feed industry
• Cement and concrete industry, etc.

Bulk Bag Filling Machine

A bulk bag filling machine, as the name suggests, is usually designed specifically for filling flexible intermediate bulk containers. For this purpose, they are capable of filling and weighing bags from 100 to 1250 kg. These bags are enormous and usually preferred for filling granular products. Powder products are rarely packed using this machine.

Small Weight Bag Filling Machine

Small weight bag filling machines are created to fill lesser weight bags hence named ‘‘small weight bag filling machine’’. These machines have both filling and weighing capabilities. They are used to fill bags with minimal weight measurements as a few milligrams and gram.

 Form-fill-seal (FFS) Bag Filling Machine

Form fill seal bag filling machine is one of the most widely used machines. It can fill the package with either a wet or dry product and then seal it. In most the circumstances, FFS system designs the primary package using a flexible film. This primary package is either a bag or pouch, depending upon the product you are packing. However, both aseptic cartons and gable tops are made in FFS operation. Along with these, blister packs can also be produced using a thermoform FFS machine.

The main components of an automatic bag filling machine are discussed below.

• Control Panel

The auto bagging machine has a touch screen used as a control panel to operate the machine. The operator gets the interface to ‘‘instruct’’ the patient through this panel. The presence of a control panel makes it easy to assess any issues of the present. It also aids in designing your packaging easily and effectively.

• Bag feeding roller

A bag feeding roller is used to convey bags to the machine. In some machines, these bags are loaded manually by the operator beforehand, but the machine may produce the bags in other cases.

• Proximity sensor

Proximity sensors, as the name suggests, detects the bag when it moves closer to it, signaling the vacuum loader to pick it.

•  Vacuum bag loader

The vacuum bag loader picks the bag immediately after getting signals from proximity sensors.

• Grippers

Grippers are responsible for holding the bags throughout the filling and sealing process. It tightly holds the bag as the bag passes through all the stations it is supposed to go through.

• Vacuum Suction Pad

The vacuum suction pad has an Air blower with it. This is used to blow the air through the bag to open the lower parts of the bag effectively.

• Dosing system

It is a multi-head component of the machine which delivers the pre-weighed desired product into the bag. When filling powder products, the auger is used as a dosing system, while a nozzle is used in the case of liquid products.

• Dusting system

The dosing system is present on the top of the filling station. It will clean the product by removing the airborne and dust particles from the product.

• Seal bar

A seal bar is used to seal the bags after filling of the product. It uses heat and pressure to seal the bag perfectly. Now the bag is sealed, no more product can be added to the bag.

• Cooling bar

The cooling bar will cool the sealed area which was previously heated—the cooling of the seal helps in its flattening.

• Conveyor belt

In the auto bagging line, the Conveyor Belt is used to transport the finished package towards the weight checking devices, if present, or towards the storage.

You should always consider some important points whenever you are planning to import an auto bagging machine. We will discuss those points below.

Brand/Model of Automatic Bag Filling Equipment

The packaging of the product is greatly dependent on the model of the machine you are using. Different brands offer different features of the same machine, and different models have different packaging qualities. For instance, a machine that smoothly packs the powder might not be used to pack the granular product.

Your budget is of great influence in selecting the model and brand of the machine. With a low budget, you can afford a machine with fewer features, while with a high-budget you can purchase a model with many features. Also, try to pick a well-known brand. By choosing a famous brand, you will have the insurance of the machine along with easy availability of spare parts if needed.

New Technology in Automatic Bag Filling Machine Industry

In the past decade, automatic bag the filling machine encounters enormous inventions and developments. Many additional features are added to these machines for effective and efficient packaging. Almost all the processes are automated, such as:

1. Bag forming
2. Bag positioning
3. Bag filling
4. Weighing of bags
5. Sealing of bags
6. Counting the bags etc.

That’s why it is necessary to buy a machine with all the contemporary features. Choose a machine that, apart from loading the bag, can also seal and count the bags. It will help you cut the cost of hiring additional employees and increase your yearly profits.

Production Capacity of Bag Filling Equipment

The production capacity of each machine is different from the other, so keep in mind your desired level of output when importing the filling machine. For example, if you aim to produce 1440 bags per hour, you need to buy a machine that can at least fill 24 bags per minute. The number of bags produced greatly depends on the speed of rotation of the filling spout and the speed of the conveyor belt. So, make sure to inspect the speed of these parts before importing a machine.

Power Consumption

Buy an automatic bag filling machine which can give more outcome while consuming the less power. Moreover, the machine’s power rating must match with the distribution grid in terms of frequency and voltage.

Type of Bags Machine Can Fill

There are many types of bag filling machines available in the market, as discussed previously. Choose the machine carefully, keeping in mind the type of product you are packing.

Quality Compliance

Choose a machine that is compiled with the quality standards. There are several organizations that standardized quality among the manufacturers. Following are some famous guiding standardization certifications to look out for:

• CE
• cGMP
• FDA
• RoHS
• CC
• ISO
• ASTM

Safety Features

Safety of a crucial aspect to consider in the manufacturing process. You should choose an auto bagging machine that has all the necessary safety measures to protect the following:

• Bagging machine itself
• Operator
• Technicians
• Products