Using Thermal Imaging to Improve Packaging Line Efficiency

Improving packaging line efficiency is essential for businesses that want to stay competitive and profitable. A more efficient packaging line can help reduce costs, improve productivity, and increase customer satisfaction. Adding an inspection system to your packaging line can help reduce poor seals and increase overall efficiency.

Heat seal inspection is a fully automated system that uses a thermal camera to inspect the seal on packaging materials. This method detects temperature differences that can indicate defective seals, such as gaps or areas of weak adhesion. With a thermal inspection system, you can quickly identify any defective packaging that could cause product damage, contamination, or shipping delays.

Here are some ways that thermal inspection systems can improve packaging line efficiency:

Reduce downtime

A thermal seal inspection system can quickly detect defective packaging before it enters the production line. This reduces the likelihood of downtime due to packaging errors.

Reduce film waste

Thermal seal inspection helps identify defective seals early, reducing the need for rework. This significantly reduces the amount of film wasted during the packaging process.

Improve package quality

Thermal imaging can detect temperature differences across the surface of the packaging, allowing even small seal defects to be identified. This improves the overall quality of the packaging, reducing the risk of product recalls or customer complaints.

Increase throughput

Automated inspection is faster than manual inspection, allowing your packaging line to achieve higher productivity.

Reduced Waste

By reducing the number of defective seals that require rework, businesses can reduce waste and improve the sustainability of their packaging operations.

Reduced Chance of Missing Defects

Automated inspections offer the benefit of being consistent and objective, significantly reducing the chance of human error. This reduces the chance of missing defects that could lead to product recalls or customer complaints.

Easy to Integrate

Thermal cameras can be easily installed at various points along the line to ensure consistent inspection of packaging seals. The system requires very little hardware, making installation a very simple process.

Good Return on Investment

Businesses can quickly recoup their investment in a thermal seal inspection system by saving money on waste and rework costs.

Preventive Maintenance

Detecting faulty seals before they cause problems down the line can help prevent costly breakdowns or maintenance issues with packaging equipment.

Improved Customer Satisfaction

Improved package quality and reduced risk of defects can lead to higher customer satisfaction, ultimately improving brand reputation and fostering customer loyalty.

How does heat seal inspection work?

A thermal camera can be used to inspect heat-sealed packaging by detecting temperature differences across the packaging surface. Heat-sealed packaging is formed by applying heat to the packaging material, which melts and fuses to form a seal. Heat seal inspection systems work by using an infrared camera to “see” the residual heat from the heat sealing process. Identifying a good seal by temperature parameters allows Heat Seal Testing to reliably detect good and bad seals.

A properly formed seal should be uniform, without any gaps or defects. However, seal problems such as incomplete sealing, contamination or defects can affect the temperature distribution across the packaging surface. The thermal camera can quickly and non-destructively identify any defects or irregularities in the seal.

Packages suitable for heat testing

Heat seal testing can be applied to a wide variety of packaging types, such as:

Flexible packaging - Includes bags, pouches and packets made from plastic film, aluminum foil and paper.

Rigid packaging - Includes trays, clamshells and blister packs made from plastic, glass and metal.

Sealed containers - Includes cans, jars and bottles made from glass, plastic and metal.

Pharmaceutical packaging - Includes blister packs, pouches and bottles used to hold medicines.

Food packaging - Includes trays, pouches and bottles used for food and beverage products.

Understanding the impact of packaging materials on thermal imaging inspection

To effectively use thermal imaging to inspect heat-sealed packaging, it is important to know what the packaging material looks like in the infrared. The type of material used affects the effectiveness of thermal imaging for quality inspection.

Packaging materials have different emissivities, which measure how much they emit heat radiation. Materials with high emissivities absorb and emit heat radiation better and are easier to detect with a thermal imaging camera. Materials with low emissivities, such as aluminum foil or metal foil, can be difficult to inspect. This is because they reflect heat radiation, making it difficult to get an accurate temperature reading.

Visible and infrared images of aluminum foil show how heat reflections can interfere with temperature measurements. The IR image shows yellow and orange. These colors do not come from heat radiating from the foil. Instead, they are warm reflections from a hand placed on the foil.

Additionally, some packaging materials, such as plastic, can be thermally transparent at certain infrared wavelengths. Plastic materials make it difficult to detect temperature changes across the surface of the material.

Visible and infrared images of plastic bags show opacity in the visible spectrum and transparency in the infrared wavelength range.

To overcome these testing challenges, infrared filters can be used to block specific infrared wavelengths. Thermal camera wavelengths can also be selected to improve the camera's sensitivity to specific materials.

Conclusion

Heat Seal Inspection can help businesses improve their packaging lines by reducing downtime, waste, and missed defects. Heat Seal Inspection systems can detect even small seal defects, improving packaging quality and reducing the risk of product recalls. By detecting defective seals early, businesses can avoid problems and improve customer satisfaction.