Bagging machines for bags from a few grams up to 50 kg in South Africa: forming bags from roll film, filling pre-made bags and filling heavy industrial bags.
Bags are made in three ways. A vertical form-fill-seal (VFFS) machine forms each bag from roll film and fills it, from 100 g retail bags up to about 10 kg. A horizontal fill-seal (HFS) machine opens, fills and seals bags that arrive already made. A semi-automatic filler fills pre-made bags with an operator, up to 50 kg. These are the bagging machines in our range.
These realities decide which bagging machine suits your product and your bag.
A VFFS machine forms the bag from roll film, which costs less per bag than pre-made bags, but each bag width needs its own forming shoulder. Pre-made bags arrive already made, including zipper and gusseted styles, and are filled on an HFS machine or a semi-automatic filler, which costs less to buy than a machine that forms the bag.
Powders are dosed by an auger filler. Granules such as rice, sugar and beans are weighed by a multihead weigher or measured by a cup filler, because an auger’s turning screw crushes granules. Sweets and snack pieces are weighed by a multihead weigher. The doser is chosen once we have seen how your product flows.
Plain film is not strong enough at 25 kg: the seal splits open. Heavy bags are woven bags with an inner plastic bag. The inner bag is heat-sealed and the woven bag is sewn shut with thread, which is called sew and seal.
A VFFS machine forms bags up to about 10 kg; heavy bags run more slowly and need film thick enough to carry the weight. From 10 kg up, bags are normally filled on a semi-automatic system, or automatically on a dedicated machine that fills pre-made bags. Output depends on the bag size and on whether the line is automatic or semi-automatic: our VFFS bag lines are rated at 6 to 60 bags a minute depending on bag size and weigher, and our semi-automatic bag filler at about 4 bags a minute on 5 kg to 50 kg bags.
Food products need product-contact parts that can be cleaned and will not contaminate the product. Our weighers, bucket elevators, platforms and conveyors on bag lines are built in 304 stainless steel.
Most retail bags are pillow bags or gusseted bags, and both are formed from roll film on a VFFS machine. Bags that arrive pre-made are filled on an HFS machine or semi-automatically.
A pillow bag has a seal down the back and a seal across the top and bottom. Our VFFS pillow-bag lines pack rice in 100 g to 2 kg bags and sugar in 500 g to 5 kg bags, fed by a multihead weigher.
A gusseted bag has folded sides, so it stands squarer and holds more. A bag-making device on the VFFS forms 4-side seal gusseted bags; our coffee lines make them in 250 g to 1 kg, with a degassing valve and a nitrogen flush.
An HFS machine opens each pre-made bag, fills it and seals the top; a semi-automatic filler does the same with an operator placing each bag. We have supplied an auger fill-seal machine that feeds pre-made stand-up, zipper, 3- and 4-side seal and paper bags from a magazine, opens the zipper, fills 100 g to 800 g of powder and seals the top at 15 to 30 bags a minute, to within 1%, with a no-bag, no-fill check. Our automatic linear fill-seal machine fills pre-made zipper bags of 500 g to 1 kg at 35 to 40 a minute.
Heavy bags from 5 kg to 50 kg are filled on a semi-automatic bag filler: the operator places an open-mouth bag, the filler doses the product and the bag is closed. The semi-automatic bag filler we have supplied fills powder into 5 kg to 50 kg bags at about 4 bags a minute, to within 0.2%. Granules are filled on a semi-automatic weighing filler with a bag-sewing head, and powders in large bags can also be filled by a double-helix screw filler. For higher volumes, an automatic machine fills and seals pre-made bags; our auger fill-seal machine already does this automatically for smaller powder bags of 100 g to 800 g.
Bags made on a VFFS or HFS machine are heat-sealed by the machine as part of the line. Pre-made bags filled semi-automatically are closed on a heat sealer or band sealer, and woven bags are sewn. We supply bag sealing as part of a filling line we build for you, not as a stand-alone sealer. After packing, an automatic baling machine can collect finished bags into bales for dispatch.
A bagging machine is chosen by the product first and the bag second. These pages show the machines for each type of product.
Bags are the simpler pack formats: they lie flat or stand square, and are formed on a VFFS machine or filled pre-made.
These bagging lines come from machines we have supplied, alongside an auger fill-seal machine that fills powder into pre-made bags of 100 g to 800 g. We have also bagged chocolate blocks and cubes, sweets and snacks.
A bucket elevator feeds a 10-head multihead weigher on a VFFS machine, which forms pillow bags of 100 g to 2 kg, rated at 10 to 60 bags a minute. See the rice packaging machine.
A 2-head weigher on a VFFS machine fills brown sugar into 500 g to 5 kg pillow bags, rated at 6 to 8 bags a minute. See the sugar packaging machine.
A VFFS machine with a 10-head or 14-head weigher forms 4-side seal gusseted coffee bags of 250 g to 1 kg, inserts a degassing valve and flushes each bag with nitrogen. See the coffee packaging machine.
A semi-automatic bag filler fills powder into open-mouth bags of 5 kg to 50 kg at about 4 bags a minute, to within 0.2%. See the semi-automatic filling machines.
Bagging machines from our range: automatic and semi-automatic fillers for pre-made bags up to 50 kg, weighing and sewing for granules, VFFS machines that form bags from roll film, and a baling machine for dispatch.
An automatic machine filling powder into pre-made bags and sealing them, for bulk bags.
A semi-automatic double-helix screw filler dosing powder into pre-made bags of 10 kg to 50 kg.
A semi-automatic filler weighing granules into 5 kg to 50 kg bags, which are then sewn closed.
A semi-automatic filler dosing powder into bulk bags, which are then sealed.
A multihead weigher portioning granules into pillow bags formed on a vertical form-fill-seal machine.
A multihead weigher dosing a granular product into bags formed on a vertical form-fill-seal machine.
An auger filler dosing powder into bags formed on a vertical form-fill-seal machine.
A VFFS machine packing into pillow bags, followed by a baling machine that bales finished bags for dispatch.
Case Studies
Bagging projects from the range: sweets filled into pre-made bags on an HFS machine, and frozen fruit in pre-made zipper bags.
A bagging machine is only as good as the support behind it. We run a product trial for every machine we sell at our Riversands showroom, install and commission each line, train your operators, hold spares in Johannesburg and give a one-year warranty on every machine.
“Highly recommended! Excellent customer service, great prices, and they always go above and beyond.”
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PackMan purchased an Automatic 6-Lane, 4-Side Seal Vinegar Packaging Machine, and it has been performing reliably since installation. The machine delivers consistent packaging quality, operates efficiently, and has met our production expectations.
SA Packaging Machinery delivered a solution that has met our expectations. The equipment has been reliable in daily production, and we’re pleased with its performance. We found the team knowledgeable, professional, and willing to assist whenever required.
We’ve been very happy with the equipment supplied by SA Packaging Machinery. It’s straightforward to use, performs consistently, and has helped us improve our production process. The team was easy to work with and made the entire experience smooth.
Send us a sample of your product and the bag you want to use, and we will run it on the machine at our Riversands showroom before you order.
It depends on the machine size, the output you need, whether the line is automatic or semi-automatic, and whether it forms bags from roll film or fills pre-made bags. A bigger bag needs a bigger machine, and a semi-automatic filler costs less than an automatic line. We quote each line to your product and bag; see the packaging machine cost guide for what shapes the figure.
It depends on the bag. A VFFS or HFS machine heat-seals each bag as part of the line. Pre-made bags filled semi-automatically are closed on a heat sealer or band sealer, and woven 25 kg and 50 kg bags have the inner bag heat-sealed and the woven bag sewn shut. We supply the sealing as part of a filling line we build, not as a stand-alone sealer.
A VFFS machine forms pillow bags, gusseted bags and 4-side seal bags from roll film. Pre-made stand-up, zipper, 3- and 4-side seal, paper and laminated bags are filled on a fill-seal machine or semi-automatically, and open-mouth woven bags up to 50 kg are filled on a semi-automatic bag filler.
A bag is formed on a VFFS machine: pillow bags, 3-side and 4-side seal bags and side-gusset bags. A pouch is a more complex format, such as a stand-up, zipper, flat-bottom or spout pouch, made on a horizontal machine or filled pre-made. See the pouch packaging machines.
An automatic VFFS or HFS machine can, by changing the doser: an auger for powders and a weigher or cup filler for granules. A semi-automatic filler handles one product form only, so powders and granules each need their own filler.
Your product and how it flows, the bag style and sizes, your target output, whether you use roll film or pre-made bags, how the bag is closed, and the power, air and floor space on site. Send a sample and we will trial it before we quote.
