Glossary · Packaging and intralogistics
Packaging machine
Also known as: Packaging machinery, Packing machine
German: Verpackungsmaschine
In manufacturing, a packaging machine is a machine that performs one or more packaging functions, such as forming, filling, closing, wrapping, labeling, grouping or palletizing, on products or packages.
- Intralogistics
In one sentence
A packaging machine forms, fills, closes, wraps, labels, groups or palletizes products or packages, alone or as part of a line.
Example
The yogurt line combines a thermoforming packaging machine, a sleeve labeler, a case packer and a palletizer.
How it applies
- Engineering: Packaging machines are usually combined into lines. Line control coordinates start, stop and speed; standards such as PackML (ISA-TR88.00.02) describe common machine states and interfaces to make integration easier.
- Safety: Packaging machines fall under machinery law in the EU and the US general duty to safeguard. The EN 415 series gives safety requirements for many packaging machine types, applied together with ISO 12100 risk assessment. Following a standard alone doesn't make a machine safe; the risk assessment covers the actual design and use.
- Operation: Frequent format changes, cleaning and jam clearing are the tasks with the highest exposure to hazards.
- Documentation: Operating manuals for packaging machines focus on changeover, cleaning, jam clearance and troubleshooting. Write these as task topics with clear preconditions, and keep format-specific settings in controlled data rather than in prose.
Packaging machine vs. packaging line
A packaging machine is one machine. A packaging line is an assembly of machines that may count as an assembly of machinery with its own conformity requirements.