Form-Fill-Seal Cups vs. Pre-Formed Cups: Packaging Continer Options for Dairy Products
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The choice of yogurt and cheese packaging can never be too fundamental for the preservation of dairy products, which are among the products most vulnerable to temperature, contamination and among other factors. While sealing of yogurt, cheese and other dairy product containers are basically all handled by machines, the type of containers opted for will decide which kind of machine to be used and subsequently the pros and cons due to the different options adopted.
To accommodate the filling and sealing machines, the most accepted and recognized 2 classifications of dairy packaging container are Form-Fill-Seal Cups (inline thermoformed cups) and Fill-Seal Cups (pre-formed cups). We will present some comparison and contrast between the 2 options in this session for your better understanding.
What are Form-Fill-Seal and FFS Cups?
Form-Fill-Seal is a packaging automation approach where processes of container packaging thermoforming, dosing, filling, and sealing are all handled on the single set of machine, usually referred to as the FFS machine. This is how respectively FFS cups and other inline formed, filled and sealed containers get their name.
Sleeve Wrapped Form-Fill-Seal Cheese Cups
Credit: ELITER Packaging Machinery
Form-Fill-Seal machines are in nature a category of thermoforming machines now that they use a range of polymer materials to form dairy cups, typically in multipack format, welded together and with multiple departments. Rather, FFS machines are featured by some more complex functions, including dosing precision detection and ultraviolet (UV) sterilization. After the filling of cups, the punching and ejecting call and end to the operation of a single cycle.
What are Fill-Seal and Pre-Formed Cups?
Fill-Seal packaging is a packaging technique where a product is filled and then sealed within the same packaging machine. The Fill-Seal machine typically uses pre-formed containers which will be stacked in a hopper and will be fed to the machine with a denester system. The machine then fills the product into the pre-formed package, and then seals it to create a finished product ready for distribution.
Pre-formed cups are not something created within the same machine where filling and sealing takes place, rather, come in ready-to-be used manner. The fact that they are separately formed allows them to be made by various and wider range of packaging materials like plastic, paperboard, or aluminium, and come in various shapes and sizes depending on the product being packaged. Pre-Formed Cups are commonly used for single-serve packaging products such as snacks, desserts, beverages, and condiments.
Form-Fill-Seal Cups vs Pre-Formed Cups
Credit: ELITER Packaging Machinery
Form-Fill-Seal Cups vs. Pre-Formed Cups
Different Machines to be Used
Form-Fill-Seal cups are formed inline on an FFS machine which unwinds materials from rolls and forming the containers with heat. Pre-formed cups are handled by fill-seal machines which does no come with thermoforming functions.
FFS Cups are more Flexible than Pre-Formed Cups
FFS cups can be created with various shapes and sizes as long as the thermoforming station of the FFS machine can be changed with different moulding components. The dairy product manufacturer can easily switch between different cup designs and without the necessity to order or prepare among their stock those different shapes and sizes in the case that pre-formed cups are to be used.
Packaging Formats are Different
Pre-formed cups are usually individual containers used for single-serve purpose. However, FFS cups are typically thermoformed in multipack format and have several departments aligned in several rows and columns. The difference will cause challenges when wrapping sleeve around them now that pre-formed cups should be handled by a cluster machine while the latter can be packed by a wraparound cartoning machine.
Different Operation Expectancy
As suggested by Synerlink, a yogurt packaging expert, Form-Fill-Seal (FFS) machines are ideal for high-volume production, offering high efficiency, low labour costs, flexible design, a lower carbon footprint, and excellent sanitation.
Pre-formed Fill-Seal (FS) machines suit smaller volumes, are cost-efficient for lower volumes but require more labour, are flexible for frequent product changes, use recyclable materials, and have a smaller footprint. FFS is preferable for higher volumes, while FS is better for lower volumes.
Turnkey Dairy Packaging Line Solutions
ELITER Packaging Machinery‘s presence is expanding in the segments of dairy products and we have had several successful projects working with dairy processing companies to install packaging end-of-line for wrapping and cartoning of their Form-fill-seal cups as well as pre-formed dairy packaging containers. Our solutions range from carton sleeving to tertiary packaging of case packaging, accompanying which we work also with those European co-partners for offering FFS and FS machines to offer to our clients turnkey dairy packaging solutions.
To apply for more information, please send your inquiry to: info@eliter-packaging.com
