What Can You Package on a Vertical Form/Fill/Seal Machine?

Welcome to Package This — your guide to packaging machinery and materials. Today we explore vertical form/fill/seal equipment, also known as VFFS machines or vertical baggers. 

As the name suggests, these machines form bags from plastic roll stock, fill them with product while positioned vertically, and seal them immediately — all in one continuous operation.

Standard Pillow Pouch

Pillow pouch machines use gas flushing to puff up the bag with nitrogen for added protection of the product inside, such as potato chips or other snacks.

Syntegon's Woodman P3c, a continuous-motion VFFS bagmaker, features technologies designed specifically for light, low-density snack foods like potato chips and extruded snacks.

As the machine unwinds film rollstock around a forming tube, it measures and deposits the product and seals the bags. Its product clamp and settler feature stops and shakes products falling through the film tube. A jaw stripping motion sweeps the end seals clear of any smaller particles that may interfere with the seal.

The Woodman SVX Agile is the newest VFFS bagmaker from Syntegon, capable of speeds up to 300 bags per minute, thanks to its unique new cross-seal drive system, which consists of four independently controlled servo motors. The SVX platform comes in three models: the Agile, the Duplex, and the Compact.

Solid VFFS

If you think VFFS systems are just for snacks – think again! Vertical baggers can handle a wide range of solid products such as meats, frozen foods, pet foods, cheeses, and other products, including non-food items.

Here we see a R. A Jones KartridgPak brand chub packer in action. R. A Jones says KartridgPak offers the lowest total cost of ownership primary packaging machine in the industry.

This new, mid-speed machine utilizes the latest bagging technology to help customers' bags and pouches stand out on the shelf with registered film and consistent graphics.

This KartridgPak is forming a chub pack, often used for applications such as ground beef, turkey, or sausage products. As product is filled into the newly formed chub pack, the machine forms a metal crimp to snugly close the chub. In addition to chub packs, the KartridgPak product line handles many different bagging applications.

Stick Pack

Stick packs carry small portions of products perfect for the on-the-go lifestyle, packaged in a long and thin tubular shape. Since these machines work with such small amounts per package, the forming, filling, and cutting of stick packs demands exceptional precision.

That’s where the FC-1000 from THEM/Sanko comes in. The quintessential machine made by the inventors of the stick pack, this stick pack machine is engineered to last: some models of this machine have been running for over 20 years in North American production facilities. Variants of the FC-1000 can handle both dry and liquid applications in up to 16 lanes, with adjustable stick lengths.

A variety of film types can be accommodated. Waste is minimized by a combination of features that guarantee top-quality seals. These include moving filling nozzles, servo motors, and ultra-precise dosing cycles that work together to keep the sealing area clean and clear.

Sachets & Portion Packs

Portion pack bags, or sachets, use the same vertical bagging technology we've described, but scaled down for much smaller package sizes.

These compact packages hold just enough product for a single portion or use. With sachets, the roll stock is cut into small strips, filled, and sealed on four corners to form square or rectangular-shaped bags — perfect for condiment and sugar packets used in foodservice applications. 

Quad-Seal Bags

Quad-seal bags feature four seals and take on a distinctive rectangular shape. These bags stand out on store shelves due to their prominent squared-off appearance. They're an excellent choice for coffee products, nuts, snacks, cookies, and other powdery or granular products that benefit from enhanced shelf presence.

Liquid Applications

VFFS technology doesn't shy away from liquids and semi-liquids. Soups, sauces, and condiments can all be filled hot into bags or pouches on VFFS machines. Cold filling for dairy products is also possible, keeping them cool, smooth, and creamy throughout the packaging process.

From popcorn bags and stand-up pouches of rice to sachets for soy sauce and stick packs for powdered sports drinks, vertical baggers cover it all — offering efficiency, speed, and versatility in a single, seamless bagging operation.

For more videos on packaging equipment and materials, subscribe to Packaging World's YouTube channel to catch the entire Package This series.

And if you're exploring vertical bagging machines or other types of equipment, check out PMMI ProSource at ProSource.org — a searchable directory with over 1,000 packaging and processing suppliers.

Thanks, and until next time — keep on packaging!