Common Challenges in Liquid Packaging and How to Overcome Them

Effectively preparing and presenting liquid products helps to ensure customer satisfaction, protect product waste and keep consumers safe. Different liquid products can present unique challenges to those doing the packaging. However, a few general challenges can be easily overcome by using the best packaging methods for the liquids at hand.

Product Contamination

While more important, or even required, in some industries, such as food, beverage and pharmaceutical, keeping liquid products free from contamination allows consumers to feel confident that the product is fit for its intended use. Contamination can occur when product is introduced to bottles or other containers that are layered with dust or other debris. This debris can stem from the process of manufacturing the bottle, from shipping or from containers simply sitting in storage. Adding a bottle rinser to a packaging line is one simple way to protect against product contamination. Rinsing machines can use air, water, product or other cleaning media to remove dust and debris prior to the introduction of liquids into the bottles or containers. These machines range from operator assisted semi-automatic models to automatic rinsing equipment that only requires initial set up and replenishing of bottles, making the bottle rinser an efficient solution for packagers large and small.

Industry Compliance

Specific industries will require different standards based on the liquid products being packaged. This could lead to certain requirements for a range of packaging equipment, including filling machines, capping equipment, labeling machinery and more. Once the necessary standards are identified, packagers should work with machinery manufacturers to ensure that the equipment will meet those specific needs. For example, liquid filling machines can dispense products based on volume, level, weight or other principle. Those looking to fill be volume to meet tolerances would usually be best served by gravity, pump or piston filling machines. Packagers that need to fill to a specific weight would need to add scales and a net weight filler to their packaging line. Once these standards are found and understood, the packaging machinery can be custom manufactured to meet almost any need efficiently and effectively.

Leaking Liquids

Leaking liquids can stem from a multitude of factors, including poor packaging, damage from drops or transportation, tampering and more. Packagers cannot always control what happens to the products once they leave the facility or reach the shelf, but capping and sealing machinery can effectively lessen the chances of leaking product from production plant to consumer home. Capping machines are built to handle specific caps, from screw-ons to corks, aluminum ROPP blanks and other closures. Choosing the right cap and capping machine helps to ensure a consistent and reliable seal on the product, avoiding issues like loose or cross-threaded caps. Other sealing machines can apply neck bands, capsules and tamper evident type seals to help ensure the product reaches the consumer in a safe state.

Budget Constraints

Packaging liquids by hand can be a time consuming and tedious process that may also become impossible when a product is in high demand. However, packaging machinery must be cost-effective to be effective at all when preparing products for the shelf. At Liquid Packaging Solutions, nearly all packaging machinery is available in both automatic and semi-automatic models, providing an entry point for packagers of any size. In addition, almost all equipment can be custom manufactured to both meet current needs and allow for growth in the future. Understanding both current needs and expected growth will allow a packager of any size to find a cost-effective solution for getting their liquids to the shelf.

Each liquid packaging project will come with unique obstacles based on the products, bottles, caps, budget and other components of the packager. At LPS, we analyze all of the needs of each individual project to find the ideal packaging solution by overcoming both common and unique challenges.