The pack that needed to be invented

DESIGN Each product (and each and every company) is one of a kind, a uniqueness aboveall expressed in the pack. The contribution of AcmaVolpack that, as well as supplying the machines and complete packaging systems, has designed new packaging of original shape and function as well as the relative technology.

Face up to an extensive array of packaging requirements. The company does not just offer customers the most efficient and reliable machines possible, but also assists them in actually designing the new types of packaging and developing the technologies required to industrialize production and speed up time to market. This is the philosophy of AcmaVolpak (Coesia group), builder of packaging and wrapping systems for food and chemical, solid or liquid products. The objective is not to seek novelty in itself, but rather to pinpoint the most effective solution to suit the given occasion in order to produce packaging that is innovative in form, material and design, but also at the same time appealing, safe and effective.

Design and Co-design
The project approach is pragmatic: products do not just have to be innovative and appealing, they have to be industrialised and packaged according to certain production requirements, focusing for example on keeping costs down as well as on environmental safeguarding, for which companies are obliged to pay utmost attention in choosing environment-friendly materials and processes. For this reason, the packaging of a product goes hand-in-hand with the evolution of the same. Backed by decades of experience in a host of product areas, the company has devised an efficient and effective co-design service, but also an actual choice between various types of packages devised in-house; it develops tailor-made systems or units to integrate current technologies to create a solution in the making. Here are some success stories.

Acma’s Zip Top is used to package solid products (chewing gum and hard sweets). Its design is innovative and functional and guarantees simplicity of use, hygiene and product preservation. The packaging (photo 1 and 2) has been designed so that the product cannot spill accidentally and so that its properties are preserved, even after the packet has been opened and used several times. Made from a single blank in the material demanded by the customer to suit the occasion, Zip Top is a flexible solution and can be customised in a variety of ways (for example by arranging the dispenser hole on the narrower or the wider part of the packet.
Zip Top is processed by Acma’s line made up of the cartoning machine FT301 (that prepares the flat blank in different formats: Hinge-lid Pack, Zip Top, Flip Top or Shaker Box) and by the cellophane wrapping machine C301 which seals the packet exploiting the hermetic Fin Seal technology, that requires minimal quantities of material and does not alter the appearance of the packaging, also protecting the product perfectly. One of the companies that has chosen this solution is MC Neil, which uses it for Nicorette products. The package, which is sold in the tamper evident and childproof version, exploits extremely strong laminated materials and a cellophane wrapping system that guarantees a hermetic seal: These special features mean the package is as efficient as a blister pack.

Volpak’s Brickpouch combines the benefits of a flexible pack with those of a rigid or semi-rigid one, that can be filled right to the top, fully exploiting the whole volume and cutting down in product waste. The flexibility of the wrapping material is especially advantageous for viscous products, because it facilitates handling without having to use accessories, such as spatulas or other tools. The filling conditions developed explicitly by Volpak make the Brickpouch perfect for foamy products too.
Volpaks HHFS (Horizontal Form Film Seal) exploit a patented technology, allowing the same machine to form the pouch, insert the cap and fill the package. Model SP-170 BP in the “simplex” version is used for 250 ml to 1.5 L packages, at a rate of 60 pouches per minute, whereas the “duplex” version produces up to 120 pouches a minute. Bardhal, a leading automotive oil producer and trader, is an excellent example of a company that has decided to take advantage of this solution; among the advantages enjoyed by the end user, one has an easier and more ecological disposal of the empty containers.
 

Volpak’s DUOpouch is ergonomic, appealing and handy to use, developed specifically for beverages such as fruit juice, yoghurt or other dairy based beverages.
This flexible solution features a straw hermetically sealed inside the pack up, thus guaranteeing max hygiene, that is accessed on opening by way of a practical tear-off system.
DUOpouch can be produced on an SP170 simplex or a SP220 duplex. The former creates 1000 ml capacity packs and reaches a speed of 70 pcs min, while the latter is for pouches of a max of 350 ml and can produce up to 140 DUOpouches a minute. This pack is already present on the market in use by the big beverage brands.