Stand-up pouches: three new illustrations of the wealth of the Cermex library

With three recent installations, Cermex illustrates its capacity to propose a solution adapted to each type of stand-up pouch (doypack). Global expert, attentive to changes in market demand, Cermex has rallied its teams to accompany the emergence of this type of packaging since its beginning.

The Cermex library of modules, based on four variables (pouch characteristics, secondary packaging, collation principle and technological sophistication), today gives access to a complete range of reliable and innovative machines for packing stand-up pouches.

Inexpensive, ecological and attractive, stand-up pouches have found their place on supermarket shelves on an international scale. More than 25 billion doypacks were produced worldwide in 2009.

In vogue, stand-up pouches do justice to brand names: their esthetically pleasing shapes meet the multinational corporations' requirement for differentiation, in particular in the food industry.

Moving with the times, stand-up pouches are also economical in terms of resources. They are lightweight and substitute extra packaging. The home and personal care industries favor stand-up pouches for refills in particular.

Key players impressed by Cermex technology

Thanks to the accumulated expertise of the Cermex engineers, the company is in pole position to meet the challenges of handling ever-evolving stand-up pouches.

When the doypack was first launched in France, Cermex had an intuition of its promising future and the need to build a range of solutions in line with its characteristics and rapid expansion.

The turning point came in 2004 with the "Ready to Pack" selection of modules designed specifically to handle soft packaging. Cermex now proposes a broad range of machines, integrating heavily robotized configurations. This initial approach also enabled the manufacturer to change the market view on using robots, by proving their efficiency in this type of application.

Year after year, the library is enhanced. The principle of building a machine range around a primary packaging has won over more and more industrialists. This is demonstrated by the latest Cermex stand-up pouch applications sold to 3 multinationals:

• 2 BC54 tray packers/lid fitters for loading stand-up pouches of dishwasher detergent into trays
• 1 WB45 wrap around case packer for handling capped doypacks of fruit purée, individually or in cartons of 4
  
• 1 SD69 robot case packer for loading shower gel refills into RSC.
  

A complete range to handle all types of stand-up pouch

The success of stand-up pouches has multiplied its uses. Today, Cermex customers benefit from a whole library of dedicated solutions. The range of modules is based on four variables: pouch characteristics, type of secondary packaging, collation principle and technological sophistication, so as to cover all the requirements.

Expert in end of line packaging, Cermex can customize its solutions to meet the specific demands of the industrial sectors involved, principally the food, soft drink, home and personal care industries.

A library of solutions based on four variables

The type of stand-up pouch and the process characteristics

The Cermex range accommodates the diversity in applications, with a selection of modules so as to design the machine suited to the product:

• Whatever its contents: liquids, pasty or viscous solids
• Whatever the features: presence of a cap, or a straw…
• Whatever the capacity: from 60 ml to 3.5 liters,
• Whatever the industrial process: fed in lying flat or upright, up to speeds of 180 products per minute.
  

Collation constraints

The shape and softness of pouches presents a challenge for automating the collation phase. The various solutions must accommodate the space available and the required level of technology:

• Spacing out by racetrack collators (single axis, dual axis, timing belt collators), efficient in turning and maintaining a fixed pitch between all types of pouch, with innovative solutions for easy dismantling and quick replacement of buckets during format changeovers.
• Combination of vision and tracking, to do away with cumbersome collating systems in favor of a more refined and accessible solution.
• Conveying doypacks in pucks by lock chamber system or scrolls.
  

The type of secondary packaging

The range of machines for handling pouches benefits from Cermex global expertise in handling the main types of secondary packaging:

• RSC via top loading, with AN numerical axis gantry packer or 6-axis robot
• Wrap around blank with lateral transfer or pick and place loading
• Tray + lid or half RSC + lid
• Insertion of a reinforcement to rigidify the packaging during case sealing.
  

Technological sophistication

Finally Cermex brings to its stand-up pouch applications its technological expertise to meet both technical and economical challenges.Traditional or robotic case packing

• Mono-function lines (case former, case packer, case gluer) or multifunction machines depending on the required speed and layout
• Robotic expertise: saving in space by optimizing the pouch arrangement in the packaging (Shelf Ready Packaging in particular), staggering by gripping 2 to 6 doypacks at a time, high speeds (40 cycles/minute), large vertical robot stroke to guide the batch into the case, robot assistance in format changeover, etc.
• Specific gripping tooling with no adjustments required or universal gripping head requiring only the simple and ergonomic replacement of the product grippers
• Complete end of line with traditional or robot palletization.

The library of solutions is a concrete illustration of the scope of Cermex expertise and the modularity of its solutions. The prowess acquired in the course of the various developments also guarantees the versatility of the solutions as well as complete respect for the integrity of a soft product that presents a technical challenge throughout each phase.

At the Emballage show in Paris from 22nd to 25th November 2010, Cermex will be exclusively presenting the latest addition to its machine range for handling pouches: a top loading case packer integrating a vision system and a 6-axis robot.