Yes. A capable automatic packaging machine supplier should be able to modify more than bag dimensions or machine length. Custom work can cover filling methods, product-contact materials, PLC/HMI controls, servo systems, conveyors, inspection equipment, package sizes, line layouts, safety systems, and upstream/downstream interfaces. ANSI/PMMI B155.1-2023 applies to new, modified, and rebuilt packaging machinery, including coordinated packaging functions and related conveying equipment. For food applications, FDA guidance also expects food-contact surfaces to be corrosion-resistant, durable, smooth, non-toxic, and easy to clean. Customization should therefore be specified with measurable production requirements, not simply selected from an option list.
A packaging project normally starts with the product rather than the machine. A 250 g free-flowing snack, a 1 kg powder, a viscous sauce, and a tray of fragile bakery products require different feeding and filling methods even when the finished package looks similar. Product density, particle size, viscosity, temperature, moisture, dust generation, fragility, and target fill weight can change the required feeder, dosing system, sealing arrangement, and cleaning method.
That product information should be paired with real package samples. A buyer running 12 SKUs, for example, should provide the smallest and largest pack dimensions, target weights, film specifications, seal widths, zipper requirements, printing areas, and expected annual volume. If 70% of production uses only three SKUs, engineering can prioritize fast changeovers for those formats while retaining adjustment ranges for lower-volume products.
A machine rated at 100 packs per minute is not automatically a line capable of producing 100 acceptable packs per minute.
Rated speed usually describes machine capability under stated conditions. Actual output also depends on product feeding, filling consistency, film behavior, seal dwell time, inspection, rejects, downstream accumulation, and operator intervention. A useful quotation therefore states the product, package, test conditions, and sustained production rate rather than presenting only a maximum mechanical speed.
The same approach applies to filling accuracy. “High accuracy” provides little information. A specification such as 500 g nominal fill weight with an agreed tolerance, measured across a defined sample such as 100 consecutive packs, can be checked during acceptance testing. The filling technology then has to suit the product: augers are commonly used for powders, weighers for many granular products, and pumps or piston systems for liquids and pastes.
Package material adds another engineering layer. A machine designed around one laminate cannot be assumed to perform identically with every recyclable mono-material, paper-based structure, PE film, or premade pouch. Film stiffness, thickness, coefficient of friction, heat-seal window, stretch, and surface treatment affect feeding and sealing. If a plant expects to change materials in 2027 or 2028, representative samples should be tested before the machine design is frozen.
| Item to define | Example purchasing specification | Why it is measured |
|---|---|---|
| Output | 60–80 packs/min | Establishes expected production capacity |
| Fill weight | 500 g nominal | Sets dosing requirements |
| FAT sample | 100 consecutive packs | Provides a repeatable inspection set |
| SKU range | 100 g–1 kg | Defines adjustment range |
| Changeover | Under 20 minutes | Measures lost production time |
| Power | 480 V, 60 Hz | Matches plant utilities |
| Controls | Specified PLC/HMI platform | Supports plant maintenance |
| Data | OEE/alarm/status fields | Supports production reporting |
Production range matters because a machine that handles 100 g and 1 kg packs may require more than a recipe change. Forming sets, filling screws, product funnels, sealing jaws, guides, conveyors, or checkweigher settings may need replacement. Buyers should ask the supplier to document which parts change for every SKU and whether tools are required.
Changeover time can then be converted into production time. If a line changes SKU three times per day and each change takes 40 minutes, 120 minutes of an 8-hour shift are unavailable before cleaning or unplanned stops are counted. Reducing each change to 15 minutes returns 75 minutes to the shift. At 60 packs per minute, that time represents up to 4,500 machine cycles under ideal running conditions.
Mechanical customization also has to fit the building. Conveyor elevation, machine footprint, ceiling clearance, operator positions, maintenance access, electrical cabinet doors, film-roll loading space, and product-flow direction should appear on approved layout drawings. A 300 mm interference with an existing column or conveyor can require field modification even when the packaging process itself works correctly.
Factory conditions add another set of requirements. Dry packaged goods may need a different machine construction from wet food processing. FDA guidance states that food-contact surfaces should be corrosion-resistant, durable, easily cleanable, relatively non-absorbent, non-toxic, smooth, and free of open seams. For frozen-dessert packaging equipment covered by 7 CFR §58.626, product-contact surfaces must be stainless steel or equally corrosion-resistant metal and accessible for cleaning.
Cleaning access should therefore be reviewed on the drawings rather than after installation. Product-contact hoppers, funnels, filling nozzles, chutes, guards, belts, and removable assemblies need enough access for the plant's sanitation procedure. In a facility cleaning equipment every 8 or 24 hours, removing 20 minutes from each cleaning cycle can accumulate into substantial annual production time.
Custom stainless-steel construction is useful only when joints, fasteners, access points, product-contact areas, and cleaning procedures are designed for the intended process.
More demanding food applications can require much tighter process control. FDA's aseptic-processing guidance describes packaging systems in which product, downstream equipment, packaging equipment, and packaging material all have to maintain the required sterile conditions. The guidance also notes that observations and measurements of conditions important to the scheduled process should be recorded at intervals not exceeding one hour.
Controls should receive the same attention as mechanical components. A multi-SKU line can store recipe values for bag length, filling quantity, sealing temperature, conveyor speed, timing, and servo positions. Recipe storage reduces repeated manual entry, but buyers should still define user permissions, recipe backup, alarm history, language requirements, and the data that must be available outside the HMI.
Data connectivity has become more relevant as factories collect OEE, downtime, alarm, and maintenance information. PMMI's 2024 work on packaging data acquisition identified data capture, connectivity, legacy-machine sensors, OEE metrics, MES/SCADA interoperability, and standardization across lines and plants among the areas manufacturers were examining. A custom machine should therefore document available communication protocols and data tags before software integration begins.
Remote service also deserves a written scope. PMMI's predictive-maintenance research, based on 138 valid survey responses and 14 in-depth interviews collected in 2020, examined packaging machinery health data, servo-axis failures, smart sensors, and remote-access constraints. Buyers using remote diagnostics should establish network access rules, account permissions, connection methods, and responsibilities with their internal IT staff.
Safety requirements cannot be added casually after the mechanical layout is finished. ANSI/PMMI B155.1-2023 covers new, modified, and rebuilt packaging machinery and includes packaging functions, related conveying machinery, and coordinated functions operating in sequence. Guard doors, interlocks, emergency stops, safety circuits, access for jam clearing, and maintenance procedures need to match the risk assessment for the actual configuration.
PMMI comments submitted in an OSHA context also show why machine access deserves attention: participating manufacturers and users discussed control-reliable safety systems and noted that fixed guarding may be impractical where regular access is needed for cleaning, changeovers, or jam clearing. The comments also describe industry requests for enhanced safety circuits around 2011 following ISO 13849-1 and -2 adoption.
Once individual machine requirements are established, integration becomes the next engineering task. A packaging line may combine an elevator, feeder, multihead weigher, bagger, printer, metal detector, checkweigher, reject conveyor, case packer, and palletizer. Every connection requires defined elevations, conveyor speeds, accumulation capacity, emergency-stop behavior, electrical signals, and start/stop logic.
For example, an upstream system supplying 75 products per minute cannot continuously support a downstream packer requiring 90 products per minute without enough accumulated product or a change in the process. Likewise, a checkweigher handling only 70 packages per minute can limit a nominal 90-pack-per-minute packaging machine. Line specifications should therefore state sustained finished-package output rather than adding together individual equipment ratings.
Responsibility for the interfaces should also appear in the purchase documents. If Supplier A provides the filler and Supplier B provides the checkweigher, both parties need an agreed signal list, mechanical interface, conveyor elevation, product-transfer arrangement, and test procedure. Otherwise, a problem discovered during commissioning can sit between two equipment scopes.
Factory Acceptance Testing provides a practical way to close that gap before shipment. A useful FAT can run the buyer's actual product and packaging material, check safety functions, verify alarms, inspect package quality, record filling results, perform SKU changes, and test connected equipment. A project with five package formats should not assume that successful operation of one format verifies the other four.
“Machine runs successfully” is difficult to enforce. “Run Product A at 70 accepted packs per minute for 60 continuous minutes under the agreed FAT conditions” can be measured.
The FAT protocol can also define a sample size. For a 500 g product, the parties might weigh 100 consecutive finished packs and record individual results rather than checking a few packages selected by hand. Seal inspection can use an agreed method, while rejected packages can be deliberately introduced to confirm that sensors and reject mechanisms respond as specified.
Acceptance should include changeovers when flexibility was part of the purchase. If the agreed target is less than 20 minutes from the last acceptable Pack A to the first acceptable Pack B, the FAT can time the procedure with trained personnel. The test also shows whether operators need special tools, manual recalibration, or replacement assemblies that were not clear during quotation.
Maintenance planning should be reviewed at the same stage. A customized machine may still use commercially available motors, bearings, sensors, pneumatic components, PLC hardware, and servo equipment. Buyers should request a bill of recommended spare parts separated into normal wear items, one-year operating spares, and long-lead components, with part numbers and expected replacement intervals where the manufacturer can provide them.
Standard components can simplify local service, while custom parts need drawings, supplier support, or clearly stated lead times. If a custom sealing jaw requires six weeks to manufacture, holding one spare can be more practical than discovering the lead time after a failure. The same reasoning applies to heaters, belts, cutting blades, thermocouples, vacuum components, and proprietary electronic boards.
Documentation determines how much of the machine can be supported after the commissioning team leaves. A complete package can include operating manuals, preventive-maintenance schedules, electrical schematics, pneumatic diagrams, spare-parts lists, alarm descriptions, changeover instructions, PLC/HMI backup procedures, and approved mechanical drawings. FDA equipment-review guidance also references engineering drawings, specifications, installation information, operation, and maintenance materials when evaluating relevant food equipment.
Training should match the people using those documents. Operators generally need start-up, shutdown, recipe selection, film loading, changeovers, routine cleaning, alarm response, and safe jam-clearing procedures. Maintenance technicians need deeper coverage of sensors, pneumatics, servo systems, electrical diagnostics, mechanical timing, and backup restoration. A single 2-hour demonstration is not equivalent to structured operator and maintenance training.
Future formats should be discussed before the machine frame and control cabinet are finalized. A plant running six SKUs in 2026 may expect ten by 2028, or it may plan to add a printer, inspection camera, second filling station, or downstream case packer. Spare electrical capacity, PLC I/O, cabinet space, communication ports, mounting locations, and conveyor length can make later additions easier without purchasing every future option on day one.
Cost comparisons should use production conditions rather than purchase price alone. Suppose Machine A costs 15% less but requires 30 additional minutes of daily changeover and cleaning time. Across 250 production days, that difference equals 125 hours per year. At 60 packs per minute, 125 theoretical operating hours represent 450,000 machine cycles before accounting for normal efficiency and planned stops.
Material losses belong in the same comparison. On a line producing 5 million packages per year, reducing packaging-material waste from 2.0% to 1.5% represents 25,000 fewer wasted package equivalents. The financial result depends on film, product, labor, disposal, and rework costs, so suppliers should provide measurable performance assumptions rather than broad claims about efficiency.
Service response completes the evaluation because custom equipment will eventually need technical support. Buyers can ask for standard remote-response hours, field-service availability, spare-parts shipping locations, warranty coverage, software backup procedures, and support after the warranty period. For a facility operating 24 hours a day, five days per week, a service model limited to local office hours may need an agreed escalation procedure.
A supplier comparison can therefore be built around measurable items: 60–80 packs per minute under specified conditions, 100-pack weight samples, less than 20-minute SKU changes, five validated package formats, defined safety requirements, documented communication interfaces, an agreed FAT duration, and a one-year recommended spare-parts list. The custom solution becomes verifiable when every important requirement has a number, drawing, material specification, test method, or named standard attached to it.