Food packaging machinery has developed with the emergence of new packaging materials and the continuous innovation of packaging technology.
The papermaking technology invented by China has provided conditions for the emergence of paper packaging in history.
In 1850, world paper prices plummeted and paper packaging began to be used for food.
In 1852, Wally of the United States invented the paper bag making machine, which led to the emergence of paper product machinery.
In 1861, Germany established the world’s first packaging machinery factory and produced a fully automatic forming, filling, and sealing machine in 1911.
In 1890, the United States began producing liquid filling machines, and in 1902, gravity filling machines were produced.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Durand in England used metal containers to preserve food, leading to the emergence of various canned packaged foods.
Since the 1960s, new materials have gradually replaced traditional packaging materials, especially with the use of plastic packaging materials, leading to significant changes in packaging machinery.
The rise of supermarkets has put forward updated requirements for the packaging of goods.
To ensure the fast and safe transportation of goods, containers have emerged, and the size of container bodies has gradually been standardized and serialized, thereby promoting the further improvement and development of packaging machinery.
According to Luo Baihui, Secretary General of the International Model Association, technology and energy conservation will become important directions for the development of the packaging machinery industry in the future.
The technological innovation in the packaging machinery industry also needs to consider packaging materials in addition to the machines themselves. Environmental protection and energy conservation are important issues in the packaging industry, and many countries and social organizations have joined the development of packaging energy-saving and environmental protection technologies.
There are also some new environmentally friendly packaging products emerging, such as a packaging paper made of carrots developed in the UK, which can be both edible and used to package food; A Japanese research institute uses soybean residue as raw material to produce an edible packaging paper that is soluble in heat.
Packaging machinery is equally outstanding in saving labor and material costs. It can shorten a production team that requires approximately 20 to 25 people to 4 to 5 people, and can simultaneously exceed manual production efficiency.
Europe and America, with their strong economic and technological advantages, have exerted tremendous pressure on China’s food packaging machinery enterprises.
Located in Lemas, Iowa, USA, it is a highly automated dairy processing enterprise.
It collaborates with KukaRobotics to develop a palletizing robot that can maintain reliable operation in extremely cold environments.
This robot can greatly ensure the quality and packaging speed of products.
In the packaging machinery industry, it can be considered an unparalleled new technology and a powerful tool for the company to achieve its globalization strategy.
The weak technological innovation capability, late start, insufficient scientific research capabilities, and insufficient solid foundation of China’s food packaging machinery industry have seriously affected the development of China’s food industry to some extent.
There are about 1300 types of food packaging machinery in China, but they lack high-tech, high-precision, and high-quality supporting products. The product performance is low, stability and reliability are poor, the lifespan is short, the surface treatment is rough, and the shape is not beautiful.
In terms of product development, it is still mostly in the testing and imitation stage, with weak self-development ability, low scientific research investment, and only 1% of the sales revenue, while developed countries account for as high as 8-10%.
At present, the development of food packaging machinery in China is characterized by the following: Firstly, the combination of food packaging machinery enterprises and the low productivity of mechatronics integration to some extent reduce the profitability of food packaging machinery enterprises, directly affecting the reduction of research and development costs for food packaging machinery, and a vicious cycle of insufficient scientific research capabilities.
2、 Most food packaging machinery enterprises focus on producing single machines with low profits and are unable to obtain complete sales orders. However, their technological content is moderate, and they are cost-effective, suitable for the economic conditions of developing countries and regions, such as ASEAN countries and Africa. In the future, their export business prospects to these countries and regions are broad.
At present, improving the scientific research capabilities of food packaging machinery and quickly completing market transformation, seizing the development opportunities of China’s food industry, are urgent problems that food packaging machinery enterprises need to solve.
The main problems with food packaging machinery include a large gap with foreign products.
China’s food packaging machinery has achieved great success in recent years, but there is still a 20 year technological gap compared to foreign products.
More single machines, less complete sets; There are many main engines and few auxiliary engines; There are more products with low technological content, and fewer products with high technology, high added value, and high productivity; There are many universal models, but there are few models with special requirements and special material processing.
