When it comes to packing products, many opt for VFFS packaging machines for automated filling. So here, you can find more details on What is VFFS Packaging.
What is VFFS Packaging?
Vertical Form Fill Seal is an acronym that stands for VFFS. It is a method of packing products in a vertical orientation. This kind of packaging involves making the bag as you fill it. Vertical packaging machines can make a variety of packaging types and can handle materials of varying widths quickly.
Thus, the moniker “Vertical Form Fill Seal” (VFFS)—the machine forms and fills the bag vertically—in the end.
Vertical Form Fill and Seal (VFFS)
The machine’s automatic packing procedure begins with a huge roll of film. The unwound film is fed into the machine and simultaneously shaped into a bag at the shoulder. Doypacks and pillow bags are only two examples of the many possible varieties of this form of packaging. The film’s width and the bag’s length determine the maximum and minimum weights that may be packed. Because of its adaptability and rapid processing times, this packaging technology finds widespread usage in the food business.
With VFFS, you may quickly and easily package goods like free-flowing products into sealed, portion-controlled packaging. You may preserve food and other products with VFFS, depending on the bag and lamination material. One usage of VFFS is to make little sachets that fit within bigger packages. For instance, a bag of sugar is sometimes seen inside a crisp package. In addition to this sort of packaging, gas flushing may be used to extend the shelf life of your raw materials.
Gas Flushing
Flushing the packaging with an inert gas many times to remove oxygen is called Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP). The inert gas, which is denser than oxygen, forces the oxygen out of the container. Inert gases might be carbon dioxide or nitrogen.
Advantages of gas flushing include:
- Makes products last longer
- Enhances the durability of the product
- Could act as a protective barrier (the air in crisp packets pumped in during the gas flushing procedure).
- Prevents discoloration
The possibility of oxygen retention in packing is possible in some cases and is product-specific. To illustrate the point;
- Oxygen aids in the maintenance of respiration in fruits and vegetables.
- Oxygen prevents aerobic organisms from growing in fish and some plants.
- Red meats benefit from oxygen because it keeps their color from fading.
Vertical Form Fill Seal Applications
Everything that is somewhat dry, gritty, and loose. For both edible and non-edible items, VFFS has dual usage. Ranging from powders and rubs to condiments and candies to nuts and beads and mixes and pieces of a similar kind.
Bag Shapes and Sizes
If you have a VFFS machine, you can make any shape of the bag, rectangular or square. Flexible length options, with a maximum of 150 mm. Choices for width are 65mm, 100mm, or 140 mm.
Print and color selections:
- Clear
- Plain silver
- Plain white
- Printed
Bag Filling, Sealing, and Material
How Does VFFS Portion Control Work?
Every bag may have a specific weight goal, allowing you to standardize your items and guarantee that there is no underweight bag.
Bag Sealing
The process of creating a crimp seal involves applying pressure and heat to the bag. The key to a good vertical form seal is keeping the seal length to a minimum, which helps to avoid wasting material and makes the finished bags easier to stack in bigger outer packaging for shipment.
Bag Material
You may create the bag out of many sorts of materials. The common polyethylene (PE) or polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film is the regular fare. This material is sturdy and long-lasting; it has excellent sealing characteristics and can preserve a wide variety of goods for a fair amount of time.
Product Protection with Lamination
Additional layers of protection for the raw material are provided by laminates. To keep taste or odor in and out of the film, a foil lamination is a common combo with PET or PE. Laminates are often used for:
- So that it doesn’t absorb any potentially harmful scents or tastes from the environment
- With the purpose of maintaining the product’s original aroma and taste.
To address these issues, foils and laminates made of PE, PET, or polyester with varying gauges are often utilized. It is crucial to understand the product’s chemical composition in order to choose a suitable laminate since certain raw materials might harm it. There is a wide variety of laminates available, each one designed to meet the unique requirements of the product it covers.
There’s also water-soluble film, which means it dissolves entirely in water. You may get advice on which laminates are best for your raw materials from your contract packaging firm.
Vertical VFFs Packaging Machine
Upon the start of the VFFS packaging machine, a roll of film is unwound and steered through the machine using the corresponding web tension. The next step is to shape the film into a bag by wrapping it over a filled shoulder. Meanwhile, the product is filled vertically. Once the product has been filled and sealed, it is transferred to a conveyor belt to continue its packing process.
Step-by-step VFFS
- Loading the correct film roll into the machine gets it ready to go.
- In order to form a tube, the film is wound through a set of rollers.
- Clamps seal off the tube’s bottom, forming the bag’s bottom.
- Dropping the raw material into the partially formed pouch or bag.
- The top of the bag is where it’s sealed.
- The following bag’s bottom is this seal.
- To separate one bag from the next, the bottom seal gets cut along its center.
Using a 65 mm x 65 mm bag and grainy product, the operation is fast, producing about 30 to 40 bags per minute.
