Taxonomy of Packaging Machinery

I’ve been working with packaging machinery for longer than I want to confess. One issue that has always bothered me is that machinery terms vary from builder to builder, industry to industry and person to person. When people use the same word to describe two different machines, misunderstandings can lead to costly mistakes. It is critical is that any definition or terminology be used consistently and understood the same way by all concerned.

To that end, I propose the following taxonomy for use in describing packaging machinery.

Function > Type > Level of automation > Package movement > Package orientation > Machine direction > Speed

Depending on the machine there may be additional nomenclature that will be appropriate. Some of the above will not always apply. What the above taxonomy will do is provide a common basis for describing packaging machinery.

Function

Function refers to the main, overall, function of the machine. It may be a filler, a capper, a case packer or something else. It gives an immediate, if rough, description of what the machine will be used for.

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