EQUIPMENT ENGINEERING

Equipment Engineering

At Unified Flex, we customize every system or machine to meet the demands of the packaging application. Our engineering scope is not limited to standard offerings of turnkey systems, we are open to tackling one-off customized challenges that do not qualify as traditional methods.

In today’s competitive manufacturing environment there is a constant need to innovate solutions unique from standard known applications. We have a history of offering such unique solutions to the packaging world which have not been addressed before by any manufacturer. Our Research and Development process allows us to tackle tough challenges with considerable success.

For known and more common packaging applications we can configure packaging systems that can save floor space and integrate efficiently with the manufacturing process. Height limitation in food manufacturing facilities can often be a concern. We can configure systems designed for low ceiling height which perform comparably to a vertically integrated system.

Our Design and Engineering Process

Attention to detail

As Bagging Equipment suppliers, we strive to get the full awareness of the marketing objectives of the package, so we can contribute with our expertise to ensure that the project is successful with respect to being marketable, efficient and economical. We bring valuable hands-on experience to ensure compatibility of package style to packaging material and packaging equipment. We can configure the equipment with optional peripherals to ensure that the desired package meets the expectation of our customers.

Application experience of the supplier

Its important for the supplier to have prior experience in a relevant packaging application. The length of time a supplier has been in business for is no measure of how well equipped the supplier is to solve the packaging challenge. Packaging Technology is changing at a rapid pace. New motors, materials, and controllers have been introduced over the last decade and today machines are more efficient, economical and capable than what they were 20 years ago. Hence a supplier who has been in business for 30, 60 or 90 years is not a true measure that the solution offered by them is going to be the best in terms of efficiency and economics. In fact, it must be ensured that such a solution is not outdated, and it will be fit to work for the next 30 years.

Turnkey Systems

Not all equipment suppliers provide Turnkey Systems. Turnkey means all machines involved in the packaging process are supplied by the same equipment manufacturer. The advantage of buying a turnkey system is that you don’t have to allocate resources to ensure all the machines are well integrated. A feeding conveyor would have communication with a filling machine, the conveyor will only feed the filler only when it needs more product. Similarly, the bagging machine will be in two-way communication with the filling machine. Requesting for product only when its ready with a qualified bag/pouch and once the bag or pouch is sealed, it will ask for more product from the filling machine. Also, it’s important to make sure all machines mechanically fit with each other so the product flows smoothly throughout the packaging process. Another advantage of a turnkey system is that you don’t have to coordinate between 3 or 4 vendors. It saves time and human errors.

Complexity in Design and Engineering

Best design feature a manufacturer can offer is “Simplicity”. A good machine design should be simple yet functional. Simple and functional machines are easy to use, easy to service and downtime on such machines is minimal. On the other hand, a complicated machine design can create issues when:

• Setting up production
• Can result in more frequent down times
• Special tools and know how could be required to put the machine back in production.
• A service tech from the manufacturer may be the only option to perform service on the equipment, which can be costly
• We can proudly say that our machines offer a simple and functional design. They are easy to service and maintain. And above all, they are easy to setup and easy to use.

Strength of equipment

In addition to being simple and functional our machines have strong construction. Meaning components used in the assembly of the equipment are robust with the longest possible service life. In food packaging applications Stainless Steel is mostly used instead of mild steel. Stainless Steel is easy to sanitize and prevents rust to grow on the equipment. Electrical components like motors, programmable logic controllers, and human-machine interface are off the shelf parts manufactured by a large multinational company like Siemens, Rockwell and Omron. Products from these brands offer the longest possible service life of components and they are critical to the good operation of the equipment.

Ease of use of the equipment

A simple, functional and strong machine design results in a pleasant user experience. It makes the machine easy to setup and easy to use. Our equipment offers ease of use in terms of the following features:

• Time to switch between 1 SKU to the other especially if the bag size is much different
• Ease of splicing a new roll of film on the machine
• Quick and easy access to most commonly used features of the machine
• Ease of setting up a new packaging job on the machine
• Ability to store and retrieve recipes for various jobs on the machine
• Ability of the machine to easily adapt to a wide variety of packaging material
• Ability of the machine to be able to easily switch between different packaging styles

Ease of cleaning of the equipment

All product contact parts of the equipment should be easily accessible to clean and prevent contamination. Mostly conveyors and filling equipment come in direct contact with food products. Design of our conveyors is such that it can be cleaned easily daily. Fillers like Net weighing machines have contact parts which can be easily removed, cleaned and installed back without any tools. The bagging machines generally have the forming tubes or funnels which come in direct contact with the food products. Important to note that our forming tubes come as a single piece assembly and are able to mount on the machine without any tools.

Ease of integration with the manufacturing process

Packaging systems should seamlessly integrate with the manufacturing process. We pay attention to the details of how the product is introduced for packaging. Important factors we analyze are:

• If the product is directly conveyed from the manufacturing line to the packaging system then a contingency plan should be in place in case if the packaging system is down, the manufacturing line should continue to work. It’s often not easy to start and stop manufacturing processes.
• Product delivery method should ensure its delivered to the packaging system without any damage or deformation.
• Product delivery system should work without any clogs or jams
• In case of direct conveying there should be communication between the packaging system and the conveying equipment.

Floor Layout of Equipment

As Packaging System supplier we are able to provide a floor layout of the entire system. This will allow the customer to layout the equipment on their factory floor to avoid any potential conflicts with respect to limitation of roof height or other room restrictions.