Applying Linear Motion Components in Tertiary Packaging Machinery

Modern packaging — core to several food and beverage, manufacturing, and logistics operations — must deliver high throughput with top efficiency and reliability. What’s more, many settings require flexibility with reconfigurable machinery. That’s true of machinery tasked with so-called primary, secondary, and tertiary packaging operations.

To review, primary packaging is that which directly contacts and contains product. As the first layer of protection, this cardboard, plastic, or glass packaging takes the form of wrappers, bottles, clamshells, blister packs, and pouches.

Secondary packaging bundles individually packaged product — often to simplify handling, impart additional product protection, and keep sold-as-set packages together. Such packaging includes small boxes, shrink wrapping, trays, and cartons. Secondary packaging also groups individually packaged items together for more manageable transport and distribution.

Tertiary packaging in turn consolidates product already in secondary packaging by putting it into bulk-product groups for large-quantity storage, handling, and transport. For example, large stretch-wrapped pallets and other tertiary containers might consolidate secondary-packaged product for bulk handling, warehousing, and long-distance transportation.

As we’ll explore, motion technologies (particularly linear guides, actuators and rod ends) are core to the precise automation of machinery that executes tertiary packaging tasks. These linear-motion solutions automate palletizing equipment, machines that group products or boxes, shrink-wrapping stations, and peripheral elements that complement conveyors and pallet-handling vehicles. These automated work cells and systems require fast, and reliable assemblies to handle heavy loads, high throughput, and repetitive motions.

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