Automatic Machinery and Recipe Screens

When a packager puts automatic machinery in to place, one of the main goals is to increase production to meet growing demand. Automatic machinery helps meet that need, but long setup and changeover times can take away from the efficiency of the equipment. Liquid Packaging Solutions combats extended down time by adding Recipe Screens to machines that use a PLC and operator interface for control and setup.

Packaging equipment such as automatic rinsing machines and liquid filling machines use a PLC that allow the operator of a machine to input certain desired times, such as fill times, indexing times and more. Once these and other settings are input into the operator interface, the machine will follow these times until changed. However, most packagers will run a number of different bottles, if not different products. That means each time a different bottle and product combination is run on the machinery, the operator must enter the interface and change all of the settings, after running some test cycles to find the correct settings. The Recipe Screen removes the need to change the settings each time a bottle or product is changed.

Once the desired times and other settings for a single combination of bottle and product is placed into the machine, an operator can go to the Recipe Screen and save those settings under a specific number. Each time that same combination is run, the operator simply returns to the Recipe Screen and enters the Recipe number, recalling all the necessary settings to start production immediately and eliminating the need for extended changeover times.

At LPS, packagers are always encouraged to send in all of the bottles, as well as product, that will be used on the machinery. While not always feasible, performing an FAT with the actual bottles and product that will be used in production allows the different combinations to be saved to the Recipe Screen at LPS prior to the shipping of the machine.

While not all automatic equipment will include a PLC with a touchscreen operator interface, those that do will almost always include the time saving Recipe Screens to make operation and changeover easier for the packager. To learn more about Recipe Screens or the automatic packaging machinery offered by LPS, browse the company website to see products or call 219-393-3600 to speak with a Packaging Specialist about a specific project.