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Flow Wrapping


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Flow-wrapping guidance

Selecting a horizontal flow wrapper for products and multipacks

A flow wrapper forms a continuous film tube around products and creates longitudinal and end seals. Product dimensions, spacing, film, seal position and infeed method determine the practical configuration.

Product handling comes first

Rigid products can often be indexed directly, while soft, irregular or sticky items may need guides, carriers or a tailored infeed. The product must arrive at a repeatable pitch so that the end jaws seal between packs.

Film and registration

Confirm the film construction, width, roll dimensions, seal temperature window and whether graphics need print-mark registration. The fin-seal position and end-seal appearance should be agreed from samples.

Define the complete pack range

Provide minimum and maximum product length, width and height, including normal variation. The widest product does not always create the most difficult pack: short products can challenge jaw timing, and flexible products can move as the film is formed.

For automatic feeding, explain how products leave the upstream process. For manual loading, define the operator rate and safe loading area. Downstream coding, inspection, cartoning or case packing should be included in the line layout.

See the flow wrapping machine page for a current equipment example.

Quotation inputs

  • Product samples and dimension range
  • Required pack orientation and seal position
  • Film specification and printed repeat
  • Manual or automatic infeed
  • Target rate under stated conditions
  • Coding and downstream handling requirements

Confirm the product pitch, film and seal position before selecting a wrapper.

Review a flow-wrap application

Buyer questions

What products can be flow wrapped?

Flow wrapping can suit many individual products and multipacks, provided they can be presented consistently and the film can form and seal around them. Samples are required for irregular or flexible products.

How is film width selected?

Film width is based on the product cross-section, the forming path and the required longitudinal seal. The exact value should be confirmed from the product and machine configuration.

Can a flow wrapper use printed film?

Yes, where the machine is configured for print-mark registration and the printed repeat matches the pack length and seal positions.

What limits output?

Infeed consistency, product pitch, bag length, jaw motion, film sealing window and downstream handling all affect sustainable output.

When may shrink wrapping be more suitable?

Shrink wrapping can be preferable for grouped transit packs or products that do not need closely registered end seals. The required pack appearance and protection decide the better process.

Flow-wrapping planning

Specify product pitch, film, seals and registration together

A flow wrapper relies on controlled infeed and a film structure that can track, form and seal around the real product without contamination or damage.

Provide the full product range, orientation, spacing, fragility and approved finished pack. Supply production reels with film structure, thickness, width, core, reel diameter, print registration and winding direction. Define fin-seal and end-seal positions, code area and the checks used to approve the pack.

The wrapping and sealing guide distinguishes flow wrapping from shrink wrapping, L-sealing, VFFS, pouch and band-sealing processes. Use the sample trial guide to plan enough product and film for threading, setup, heat stabilisation and evidence runs.

Related machinery guidance

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Send the application details to Lancing for a tailored machinery review.

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Flow-wrapping questions

Questions buyers ask about horizontal flow wrapping

A horizontal flow wrapper must control product spacing, film travel and sealing as one timed process. These questions help identify whether a flow wrapper is suitable and what must be demonstrated with the intended product and film.

How do product length and pitch affect a flow-wrapper infeed?

Product length defines the physical space needed inside the pack, while pitch includes the clearance and film length required for the cross-seal cycle. Variable or uncontrolled pitch can move a product into the seal jaws or create inconsistent pack length.

Describe the smallest and largest product, orientation, spacing method, surface friction and whether products arrive continuously, in groups or by manual loading. The infeed must establish a repeatable relationship between product and film registration.

For line interfaces, use the packaging-line integration guide.

What is the difference between flow wrapping and VFFS?

Flow wrapping normally moves a product horizontally through film that is formed and sealed around it. Vertical form fill and seal normally forms a bag vertically and receives a measured product dose before the top seal is made. The correct process follows the product presentation and dosing route.

Products that must remain in a set orientation often suit horizontal handling; loose powders, granules or liquids may require a dosing system above a vertical bag maker. Film, seal style, pack shape and loading method should be compared together.

Read the full flow wrap, shrink wrap and VFFS comparison.

Why can seal-jaw contamination cause intermittent failures?

Seal-jaw contamination can prevent the film layers from receiving consistent heat and pressure across the intended seal. Crumbs, powder, liquid, grease or product tails may be trapped only on some cycles, which makes the fault appear intermittent.

Investigate the product position and cut-off timing before increasing temperature. Higher heat cannot compensate reliably for material trapped in the seal and may damage film or product. Record the failed pack, product position and machine state when the fault occurred.

Use the seal failure troubleshooting guide.

What should be agreed for manual versus automatic product loading?

Agree who or what creates the required product orientation and pitch at the wrapper infeed. Manual loading depends on safe access, operator reach and a realistic sustained work pattern; automatic loading depends on an interface that presents each product at the correct time and condition.

The acceptance test should use the intended loading method. A wrapper demonstration with hand-spaced perfect products does not prove the performance of an upstream automatic feed or a production operator over a normal run.

The automation-level guide helps define operator content.

Related question-led guidance

Provide representative products, the intended film, required pack style, loading method and finished-pack examples before selecting a flow-wrapping configuration.

Discuss the application

Flow-wrap material specification

Supply production film, product spacing and seal acceptance together

Flow-wrapper trials should use production-equivalent film with the final web width, print repeat, registration and sealant construction. Define the product's dimensions, spacing, orientation, heat sensitivity and contamination risk, then assess starts, stops and splices as well as steady running.

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