Author: Claire Taylor

With over 30 years of experience in the food packaging industry, KENRAY has seen many changes and developments to the way that food is packaged. While it originally started out as a way to protect food and keep it fresh, packaging has developed to serve a number of other purposes, including branding, environmental-sustainability and reducing food or material wastage.

Food Packaging Design

One of the most crucial aspects of food packaging today is design. Companies aim to ensure that their packaging is designed in a way that captivates and impresses customers. As such, there has been an increased need for advancement in food packaging technology.

If manufacturers want to sell their products in interesting ways, they require vibrant colours and designs. New technological advancements make colourful packaging more viable and allow for unique shapes to be made. Forming sets and shoulders help to create this type of packaging, which simply would not have been seen on grocery store shelves twenty years ago.

Wastage

In the past, studies showed that an alarming amount of food packaging material was being wasted both during and after the manufacturing process. Today, innovative sealing jaws help reduce leakage, which keeps food fresh and prevents wastage. They also run on a low temperature to save energy and production costs.

To further reduce waste, more and more refrigerated products are being sold with re-sealable packaging. Subdivided packages also help in this respect, as they allow you to use some of the product now and save the rest for later without opening the package.

Environmental Concerns

In the packaging industry, we are also seeing a shift towards sustainability. Manufacturers want to keep food and material wastage to a minimum, so many foods are packaged in materials that have been recycled or can be recycled in the future.

In turn, this has had an effect on the physical design of packaging, as products are printed with clear instructions about disposing the material in environmentally-responsible manner. Many brands even use their sustainable packaging as a selling point.

Nutritional Information

Over the course of the past few decades, we have also seen the addition of nutritional information to food packaging. New health regulations have led manufacturers to include information about calories, protein, fat, sugars and carbohydrates on their products. This has also become a part of the marketing strategy for many companies, as their packaging helps them promote their commitment to providing healthy foods to customers.

For more information on how KENRAY’s innovative technology can benefit your products, visit our Packaging Solutions page or contact us.

One of the major considerations faced by packaging businesses is the selection of an appropriate forming set. Ensuring that you choose the correct forming set is of paramount importance to the running costs of your business. It’s not just the initial price that defines the cost-effectiveness; after all, it becomes an essential part of the packaging process, and using appropriate forming tubes and forming sets that are of high quality can ensure your business isn’t wasting money.
Less material wastage

Nobody likes to lose money through production faults, so using the correct forming shoulders is vital. This ensures that packaging materials are used more efficiently, and as a result means that fewer materials are wasted. Less waste means less time and money is lost to a final product that is unusable, and also means that precious time is not spent producing a flawed product.
Fewer blockages

Another common drain on time resources in the packaging industry is caused by blockages in forming tubes and collars. Many product types are prone to these blockages, which has a negative effect by slowing the production process and rendering the machine useless until the blockage is cleared.

Using higher quality, purpose-built forming tubes, which offer intricate designs to reduce the severity and frequency of blockages, can be a beneficial way to minimise this kind of setback. These tubes will be designed with wider inlets to reduce the chances of a blockage, along with unique shaping of the tube. This helps by allowing the machine to do its job; producing the profitable products.

Despite this, it is not always necessary to buy purpose-built forming tubes that prevent blockages. While some are prone to blockage, there are some product types that do not commonly suffer such fate.
Optional features

High quality forming sets are often tailored to suit the particular needs of a company, with many suppliers offering a host of optional features to increase efficiency and functionality. This can allow your company to increase the volume of output. Such features are intended to provide a balance between cost and the running of the business, which improves the optimum outlay level and maximises business profits.
Longer lifespan

It is an inevitable circumstance that forming collars and tubes will fall victim to wear and tear as time passes, and will eventually need replacing. Using higher quality forming sets, which are much more tough and durable, means that they will need to be replaced much less often than cheaper and more flimsy alternatives. In the long run, this means that although the initial outlay may be higher, money will be saved by the infrequency at which the tubes need to be replaced.

In summary, the selection of the right forming set is a vital factor in the running cost of a packaging business. While higher quality sets may be more expensive initially, their lower repair and maintenance outlay over time makes them much more cost-effective than basic sets. Additionally, a high quality forming set and collars allow your business to maximise productivity and consequently increase profits.