Vertical Form Fill Seal Machines

Where vertical form fill seal fits

A vertical form fill seal (VFFS) machine makes the bag and fills it in one continuous process. Film from a single reel is shaped into a tube, sealed along its length, filled from above and then sealed and cut across. It suits solids, granules and powders that can fall into the bag under gravity.

The 60 configurations in this family cover snacks and puffed food, confectionery and gummies, coffee beans and ground coffee, nuts and dried fruit, rice, grains and pulses, pet food, frozen food and seafood, seasonings, baking mixes and detergent powder. Many are the same vertical bagger paired with a different dosing unit for a different product.

• Snacks, nuts, confectionery and frozen food weighed by multihead weigher
• Coffee, seasoning, baking mix and detergent powders dosed by auger
• Grains, beans and uniform granules dosed by weigher or volumetric cup
• Pillow, gusseted, quad-seal and vacuum bag styles, confirmed per configuration

How the vertical process works

Each bag passes through the same sequence of stations. The dosing unit above the machine is timed to release a portion while the jaws close on the previous bag.

• Film unwinding and tension control, with a registration sensor when the film is printed
• Forming shoulder and forming tube, which set the bag width
• Longitudinal back seal made as a fin or lap seal
• Film pulling by belts, shown as servo-driven in many catalog configurations
• Product discharge from the weigher or filler into the forming tube
• Transverse jaws that seal the top of one bag and the bottom of the next, with a knife to separate them
• Optional devices such as gas flushing, date coding, hole punching, gusseting or a degassing valve applicator
• Discharge conveyor to checkweighing, metal detection or secondary packaging

Choose the dosing system for the product

The dosing unit usually decides whether a VFFS project works. It is chosen from the product's flow, piece size, stickiness and the fill tolerance you need, and it must be matched to the bagger's tube size, drop height and cycle timing.

Liquid dosing is not part of the configurations in this family. Liquids, gels and sauces in single-serve packs are covered by the stick pack and sachet families.

• Multihead (combination) weigher: irregular pieces such as chips, nuts, candy, frozen food, kibble and coffee beans. Dimpled or coated contact surfaces appear in configurations for sticky dates and gummies.
• Auger filler: fine or poorly flowing powders such as coffee powder, seasonings, baking mixes, soy products and detergent powder. Screw tooling and dust control depend on the powder.
• Volumetric cup filler: free-flowing, uniform granules where volume tracks weight closely. It is simpler than a weigher but sensitive to changes in bulk density.

Bag styles and film

The bag style fixes the forming set and the jaw design. Film structure then decides the sealing temperature, pressure and dwell time the jaws must deliver, so send the film specification together with a reel sample.

A few configurations in this family show a stand-up pouch or doypack module for oats and pet food. Those use premade pouches rather than roll film and should be compared with the premade pouch route.

• Pillow bag: back seal plus top and bottom seals, the most common VFFS format
• Gusseted bag: side gussets for more volume and a squarer shape
• Quad-seal (stabilo) bag: four corner seals and a flat base, shown for coffee beans
• Vacuum bags for rice, grains, dried fruit and frozen seafood
• Film structure, sealing layer and any paper-based or recyclable material to be confirmed with the seal settings

Gas flushing, vacuum and difficult products

Nitrogen flushing appears in configurations for chips, coffee, nuts and pet food. The residual oxygen you achieve depends on the film barrier, bag volume, seal integrity and flushing arrangement, so it has to be measured on a trial rather than assumed.

Some products need design choices beyond the dosing unit. State these at the start, because they change materials, extraction and cleaning access.

• Roasted coffee: degassing valve placement and aroma protection
• Fine powders: dust extraction near the jaws, since powder in the seal area causes leaking bags
• Sticky or frozen products: anti-stick contact surfaces, condensation and low room temperatures
• Detergents and other chemicals: corrosion-resistant construction, listed for some detergent configurations
• Fragile snacks: drop height and product breakage between weigher and bag

What determines the configuration

Output depends on bag length, fill weight, how quickly the product settles, the film and the seal time. Speeds listed on individual configurations apply to their stated conditions; the figure for your project is confirmed in the quotation.

• Product name, physical form, bulk density and piece size
• Target fill weights and the acceptable tolerance for each
• Bag style, width and length for every format you plan to run
• Film structure and reel specification
• Required output in good bags per minute, and hours per day
• Number of products and how often you change over
• Gas flushing, vacuum, valve, coding or inspection requirements
• Room conditions such as humidity, temperature, dust and washdown
• Utilities available on site, including power, compressed air and nitrogen

Upstream and downstream equipment

A VFFS system usually includes a product elevator or feeder, the weigher or filler on a support platform, the bagger and a take-away conveyor. Checkweighers, metal detectors, cartoners and case packers may follow. Agree which of these units are in the quotation and who is responsible for each interface.

For single-serve portions in narrow packs, a multi-lane stick pack machine is usually a better fit than a vertical bagger. Retail pouches with zippers or spouts belong to the premade pouch route.

What to send for an evaluation

Send enough information to judge the product and the bag together. The quantity of product needed for a trial is agreed with the team before anything is shipped.

• Product description and photos, plus a representative sample when a trial is planned
• Film specification or reel sample, and a finished bag or drawing
• Fill weights, bag dimensions and required output
• A short video of the current packing process, if there is one

Questions buyers ask about VFFS machines

Can one machine pack both powders and pieces? Only if a second dosing unit is included or swapped in. An auger filler and a multihead weigher are different machines, so running both is a project decision rather than a setting.

How many bag widths can one machine make? Each forming set makes one bag width, while bag length is adjusted within the machine's range. Extra widths need extra forming sets, which should be listed in the quotation.

Is nitrogen flushing standard? No. It is an option in several configurations. Define the nitrogen supply, the target residual oxygen and how it will be measured.

Should I choose VFFS or premade pouches? Roll film usually costs less per pack and suits long runs of a few formats. Premade pouches give retail features such as zippers and spouts and simpler size changes. The right answer depends on your formats and volumes.