Category Archives: packaging

Frequency Of Packaging On A Shrink Tunnel

The purpose of shrink tunnels is to pack and heat shrink-wrapped products. There are different types of these machines, depending on their sizes and heating methods. The fundamental operation of each of these tunnels is to produce heat to prompt the shrinking of the shrink film.

There are three common types of shrink tunnels.

Steam shrink tunnels

These machines are used in the packaging of bottles and other cylindrical products by wrapping and heating shrink sleeves around them. The heat these machines use comes from the steam. You are going to need an expensive setup and plumbing work to get this machine working.

Infrared shrink tunnels

These machines use infrared rays as a heating factor to shrink the film over packages. These tunnels are ideal for many different types of films and products. These can be costlier than recirculating tunnels.

Recirculating shrink tunnels

Due to a lower price and added durability, recirculating shrink tunnels are the most popular. You can use a variety of films and products with this tunnel.

In this article, we are going to discuss recirculating shrink tunnels.

Factors affecting the speed of the tunnel

  1. Power is the most significant factor to consider when determining the speed of the tunnel. A tunnel running on 220v will produce more heat compared to the one operating on 110v. The amount of electricity you use also depends on the size of the tunnel motor.
  2. You are going to have to make sure that the size of the tunnel is right for the size of packages that you run through it. If you have a short tunnel and you are running long products on it, there will be fewer packages that you will get wrapped in a specific duration. It is crucial to consider the average size of the products before buying a tunnel.
  3. The number of packages you will get shrink-wrapped also depends on the types and thickness of the shrink wrap film. If you are using a thicker film, you will need to use more heat per package, and the speed of the tunnel will also have to be slow.

That said, you may want to use PVC in most applications because it requires less heat than other types of films. Even though polyolefin shrink film requires more heat, it can protect your products well after packaging. The best way is to analyze the type of protection you need.

You can adjust the speed of the tunnel based on the type of film you are using. If your product doesn’t need protection from a thicker shrink film, you can use a thin film, which allows you to speed up the tunnel. It can ultimately result in the preparation of more packages per minute. If you are already using some kind of void-fill, using a thin film for relatively fragile products may be OK.

In the end, you may want to consult with your packaging supplier to get the right suggestion. The supplies will analyze different factors, including the type of product, your packaging requirements, the machines you use, and overall business size to give you a calculated piece of advice.

Tips for Childproof Pharmaceutical Packaging Design

It is a well-known fact that children can easily mistake medicines for sweets. And what’s more alarming is that it is pretty dangerous for a child to ingest a medicine which is not meant to be used by the children. This is the reason that pharmaceutical companies never stop reminding parents to keep the medicines out of children’s reach. The good thing is that packaging companies have come up with the ways to make pharmaceutical packaging childproof. There are several innovative ways to design pharmaceutical packaging. However, the real challenge here is to make sure that the packaging is not only childproof but also easier for the older patients to handle.

In this scenario, we are going to discuss a few inspiring pharmaceutical packaging designing solutions.

Screw cap secured with closure tape

There are companies that are producing high quality childproof screw caps but it is also the fact that children, sometimes, manage to open the cap. So, some of the companies are using tamper-proof sealing strips to further secure the innovative screw caps. This strip prevents children from opening the bottle while adult can easily remove the strip to open the bottle.

Tear-resistant paper packaging

You can use an innovative mix of materials to prepare a high quality childproof pharmaceutical packaging. It would be worth mentioning Ensocard Resilience which is a tear-resistant type of cellulose material coated with PET. This packaging has been prepared by Finno-Swedish company which is called Stora Enso.

Packaging that requires activating

The idea of a packaging that requires activating every time you need a tablet may sound strange but the matter of fact is that it can be the safest option for you if you have children of curious nature. Even if the tablet box is opened, you would like your children not being able to access any tablet. For this purpose, you can get inspiration from CAREP’AK mechanism which is developed by Rondo in collaboration with the A.C.D. This mechanism helps you in making sure that only one tablet is pressed out of the bottle at a time, and that children will not be able to get the tablet due to an activation action required for the pressing out of the tablet. Both hands are required for the activation in this regard as one hand will be used for holding the bottle and sliding the button whereas the second hand will be used to fetch the tablet. The slide button moves back to block the way for other tablets in order to prevent them from coming out.

Shipping Tips for Success in Ecommerce

Setting up an ecommerce business is a milestone that provides you the path to earn greater revenues by selling online. However, there are still some important things that you will need to work on. Packaging is one of the most important things you will need to consider in this regard.

The only way you can keep your tangible products safe during shipping is to make sure that you package the products in good way. Having that said, there are a few tips that you may find helpful in this regard.

Shipping charges

You will need to have a strategy to charge your customers. Typically, the shipping charges for the customers fall into three categories.

  • First one to mention is the free shipping. You can choose not to charge your customers in order to get your brand and products promoted. However, you will have to keep in mind that the shipping is going to be free for your customers, not for you.
  • You can set a rule for the customers to pay carrier charges. This way, the customers are going to have option regarding which shipping service they choose.
  • You can offer flat-rate shipping to your customers. If you have standard product line with similar weight and size, you can go for this option.

Weighing the product

Before you ship the product, you need to know about the weight of the product. Additionally, you should also know about the weight of the trucks in which your items are going to be loaded. Ideally, an individual package should not weigh more than 50 pounds.

If you have a bundle of products set on a pallet, you will need to weight this entire bulk including the pallet. This weighing is specifically helpful when you are sending your products to be stored in the warehouse. Appropriate binding material should be used for securing the products.

Packing and labeling

In order to pack the products, you need to make sure that you have all of the packaging materials that you are going to need. Here, you can also go for the use of unconventional packing materials such as coffee bags because they are inexpensive and highly effective. If there is a bigger packaging job required for the products you ship, you can contact large suppliers to get packaging materials on discounted rates.

Labeling is typically required to attach shipping addresses. You can write these addresses with your hand but this approach is not going to be scalable when your company grows. Therefore, you need to have a proper printing mechanism for the labeling of product packages.

Fulfillment warehouse

When your sales grow, you would want to have automated systems for the shipping of your products. For this purpose, you can work with the fulfillment warehouses. This way, you will be able to save a lot of resources.