For many industries, liquid filling machines are an integral part of doing business. In an era of intense competition with pressure to reduce costs while increasing production, liquid filling machines serve a number of sectors, from food and beverages to pharmaceuticals and chemicals.
The versatility, reliability, and ability of liquid filling machines means that demand will continue to grow and extend into new sectors. With a long history of supporting industry, the technology has continued to adapt and meet new challenges.
Liquid filling machines – a short history
Liquid filling machines have been a feature of manufacturing and food processing since the mass production boom of the early 20th century. These machines were one of the first types of industrial application used to speed up production. Since then, liquid filling machines have evolved to suit a wide range of different products and processes.
While modern machines are far more efficient, reliable, and safe than their forebears, the core principles remain much the same. Liquid filling machines handle containers and fill them with a range of liquids, creams, and suspensions. The machines deliver consistent volumes with high accuracy before passing the containers down the line for further processing, including capping, labelling, and packing.
Liquid filling benefits
Across the world, industries embraced liquid filling machine technology mainly because the machines speed up processing considerably while lowering labour costs. Once a number of companies adopted the technology, their rivals had to follow suit if they wanted to compete and satisfy increased customer expectations.
Liquid filling machines offer a number of benefits:
- High speed production increases profits, lowers costs, and helps businesses serve larger customers
- Consistent filling, with lower quality assurance demands and reduced wastage
- Maintaining sterile environments where hygiene and preventing contamination are crucial
- Creating a safer environment for workers
These advantages, and many others, have seen a number of industrial sectors invest in the technology.
Which industries use liquid filling machines the most?
Liquid filling machines are now a staple of many industries, covering huge corporate packing plants and small producers. Now more affordable than ever and increasingly easy to use and maintain, a number of business sectors rely on this technology.
Pharmaceutical industry – sterility and precision
The pharmaceutical industry faces a number of unique issues when filling bottles, such as the need for sterility, the use of small vials, and the need for a precise, consistent dosage. Automatic liquid filling machines can maintain a high level of hygiene by reducing the amount of human handling. In addition, models used in the industry are clean room compatible and very easy to sterilise.
Even for small vials, common for pharmaceutical products, volumetric filling systems offer a highly consistent dose and take unusually shaped containers in their stride. As we have seen with vaccine production, liquid filling machines can ramp up production speed in a very short period of time.
Food and beverage producers – hygiene and viscosity
The food and beverage industry was one of the first sectors to adopt liquid filling technology, helping the industry overcome labour shortages while producing cheap food for a growing population. Machines used in the industry can help companies cope with highly viscous liquids, and have no problem with hot or cold liquids. Some machines can cope with foaming liquids, while others handle sauces containing suspended solids and particles.
For liquid filling machines in this sector, enhanced hygiene lowers the chances of contamination and spoiled products, while delivering consistent volumes at high speeds. They have played a huge role in reducing labour costs, passed on to customer savings in supermarkets, and delivering consistent results whether bottling wine, sauces, or yoghurts.
Cosmetics and beauty – coping with product design
The cosmetics and beauty industries increasingly rely on liquid filling machines, which had to overcome a number of unique problems. Firstly, the industry revolves around eye-catching designs as part of marketing. Accordingly, the machines have to cope with a range of container shapes and sizes without jamming or missing fills.
Products also have to fill to highly consistent volumes while coping with highly viscous products and in very small quantities. Overall, for the cosmetics industry, filling machines help companies maintain very high product quality standards.
Personal care products – the importance of flexibility
Liquid filling is also popular in the personal care industry, where containers for products such as shampoos and shower gels come in different shapes and sizes. Liquid filling machines accommodate various container types, so they provide flexibility and support product innovation and packaging design.
Liquid filling helps manufacturers run production lines much faster than traditional methods while keeping labour costs low and meeting stringent quality standards. Modern liquid filling machines can cope with a wide array of product types, including hair gel, body lotion, toothpaste, and creams, remaining accurate whatever the viscosity. Overall, liquid filling machines have become indispensable to the personal care industry because modern systems are highly customisable.
Chemical industry – emphasising safety
The chemical industry faces a number of challenges, and liquid filling machines provide the perfect solution, and the sector was quick to embrace the technology. Chemical producers often use unwieldy bulk containers, which are difficult to handle and pose manual handling risks. Many chemicals are dangerous, especially if mixed, posing an additional threat to employees.
Modern liquid filling machines can cope with large drums, and they are usually manufactured from highly resistant stainless steel and non-reactive plastics. In many cases, the machines are manufactured from inert materials to prevent leakage of chemicals such as acids and alkalis that can attack the machine.
Because they are easy to clean, there is little chance of cross-contamination when swapping to a different product line. For this sector, liquid filling machines speed up production while lowering labour costs and reducing the health and safety risk to employees.
Filling cleaning products – coping with foam
Like the chemical industry, cleaning product manufacturers often use liquid filling machines because they offer the benefit of high production volumes and lower costs. Importantly, they ensure that employees are safe, especially when coping with potentially dangerous chemicals.
Another advantage is that modern filling machines can handle the range of container shapes and sizes used for cleaning products. Importantly, because many cleaning products consist of foaming liquids, the ability of filling systems to cope with these offers a huge advantage.
How can Asset Packaging Machines help?
Although these industries are the main adopters of liquid filling machines, an increasing number of sectors and businesses of all sizes are investing in the technology. The benefits are proven over many decades, and the competitive edge is crucial in a globalised world with increasingly crowded marketplaces.
As one of Australia’s leading liquid filling machine manufacturers for over 40 years, Asset Packaging Machines has a wealth of experience. We understand the needs of every single business sector and know exactly why they use filling technology. Our systems are cleanroom compatible, easy to clean, and made from high-quality inert materials.
Because Asset Packaging Machines’ systems are easy to customise and upgrade, our machines have supported Australian industries for a long time. We have consistently adapted our systems to suit new demands, and our liquid filling systems can cope with most container shapes and sizes. Whatever the size of the container or type of liquid, our machines provide accurate filling with a high level of consistency.
Asset Packaging Machines offers a range of options to help your company find exactly the right system to suit its unique demands and budget. Whether you work in an industry where liquid filling is used most, or want to see if it can help your sector, we are happy to help.
