1. Project Background and Market Pain Points
An emerging food brand targeted the children’s nutritional supplementary food market by launching mixed fruit and vegetable puree beverages, positioning the products as portable and naturally nutritious. For this purpose, 200ml stand-up spout pouches were selected as the packaging carrier, which are not only easy for children to hold and drink but also suitable for family outings. However, in the production process, the product faced three core challenges: first, the high-viscosity fruit puree contains pulp fibers, making conventional equipment prone to uneven filling and pipeline blockage; second, the spout part needs to balance hygiene and sealing performance to prevent leakage during transportation; third, the brand had limited initial production capacity and needed to improve production efficiency while controlling costs to match the market distribution rhythm.
2. Equipment Selection: 6-Head Filling and Sealing All-in-One Machine Solution
To address the project pain points, the brand ultimately selected a 6-head filling and sealing all-in-one machine as the core production equipment, and its customized configuration perfectly adapts to the production needs of fruit and vegetable puree beverages.
In terms of core configuration, the equipment is equipped with piston metering pumps, which can cover the full viscosity range from thin fruit juice to high-viscosity concentrated fruit puree; it adopts a four-servo control system to greatly improve operation accuracy and stability; the whole machine is made of SUS304 stainless steel, complying with GMP food production standards; it is equipped with an intelligent induction device that can realize no-filling without bags, effectively reducing material and packaging waste.
The equipment’s high-efficiency integration feature is particularly prominent. The three-in-one functional design reduces the floor space by 30% and improves the overall efficiency of the production line by 40%. Moreover, the compact body can be manually moved into elevators, free from workshop space constraints. The 6 synchronous filling heads support high-speed production of 80-105 bags per minute, reducing labor costs by 50%; the filling accuracy of ±0.5% ensures consistent weight of each bag. At the same time, the equipment is compatible with stand-up pouches of various specifications from 30ml to 1000ml, suitable for the production of beverages, sauces and other categories. The double-sealing process ensures a sealing strength of ≥30N/15mm, extending the product shelf life by 20%, and the built-in CIP (Clean-in-Place) system enables quick switching between different flavors.
For the characteristics of fruit and vegetable puree products, the equipment has also been optimized with special processes: wide-diameter valves and pulse filling technology are adopted to avoid pipeline blockage by pulp fibers; a nitrogen replacement function is configured to inject nitrogen after filling to expel air and solve the problem of product oxidation; a torque control system is equipped to unify the tightening degree of spout caps, balancing the ease of opening for children and leak-proof requirements.
3. Production Process and Efficiency Improvement
The equipment has realized the fully automated process of spout pouch packaging for fruit and vegetable puree beverages, from automatic empty bag feeding, spout positioning and inspection, to precise filling, spout cap tightening, date coding and finished product output, with no need for excessive manual intervention throughout the process, greatly reducing the rate of human error.
In terms of production capacity data, a single machine can produce 80-105 bags per minute, with a maximum capacity of 2200 packs per hour, which can quickly respond to market order demands; with the help of the CIP cleaning system, the changeover between different formulas can be completed within 15 minutes, reducing equipment downtime; the filling accuracy is controlled at ±1.5g, which is better than the industry standard of ±2.5g, ensuring the stability of product quality.
4. Packaging Effect and Market Feedback
After applying this equipment, the qualified rate of product sealing has increased from 98.5% to 99.8%, basically eliminating leakage problems. The stand-up spout pouch packaging allows the product to stand stably on shelves, improving display aesthetics. The spout design does not require additional straws, making it convenient for children to drink directly, which meets the needs of the product’s core consumer group; the transparent window of the packaging can directly display the natural color of the fruit and vegetable puree, enhancing consumers’ desire to buy and helping the brand quickly open up the children’s supplementary food market.
5. Summary and Industry Enlightenment
This solution has successfully solved the packaging problems of high-viscosity and oxidation-sensitive fruit and vegetable beverages. Through the integration of precise filling and high-efficiency sealing technology, it has achieved dual improvement of product quality and production efficiency, providing a replicable implementation model for the automated packaging of similar portable nutritional drinks.
