A spout pouch is a flexible packaging material that contains a lip or tube protruding from the container. This guide provides comprehensive details on the different aspects of making a typical spout pouch for packaging a variety of products.
1. Understand the purpose of the spout pouch
Often, when making a spout pouch, one must first determine the specific intent of using it as a packaging option. You can use spout pouches in many ways including protecting, preserving and storing your product from air, moisture and many other elements.
Identifying the exact purpose of this packaging option allows you to easily identify other subsequent factors surrounding it. For example, you can easily determine the ideal material for a spout pouch for a specific content and application. It also allows you to determine the exact design, size and shape of the spout pouch to ensure you get the best and most satisfactory results.
2. Design the spout pocket
Once the specific purpose of the spout pouch has been determined, the next thing to do is to design the bag. Now, it becomes easy because you will know what product to pack in the spout pouch.
When designing a spout pouch, you should be aware that there is a specific limit to what it can hold. Thus, this enables you to consider several important factors such as the shape, quantity and quality of a particular spout pouch and its intended content.
It’s worth noting that the quality of what’s contained in this packing option determines whether or not a nozzle is required. Nozzles also come in different shapes. Therefore, it is important to ensure that the specific shape you design resonates well with the product and the consumer.
For example, some nozzle designs need to come in handy, but the product may need hard packaging. Specifically, you have to figure out the nature of the contents of the spout pouch.
This is necessary because it pinpoints the exact design that guarantees the efficiency of product packaging. Essentially, this is a fundamental factor you need to consider when deciding whether to use rigid or flexible packaging.
Plus, it makes it easy to determine if the contents require a spout pouch with a self-sealing, tear-off, or press-to-close seal. For example, liquid products are only ideal if they come in a spout pouch, not necessarily a ziplock bag. Nonetheless, it is also appropriate to take into account the target market for the product.
This enables you to customize the spout pouch design to meet customer satisfaction. In addition, it allows you to determine the cost and possible return on the investment required to invest in the production of these bags.
3. Select material for the spout pouch
Spout pouches’ efficiency and usefulness are determined by the type of material they are made of. The finish of the material is also an essential element that you must keep in mind when choosing the ideal material.
Some customers prefer to use clear spout pouches for their products so that they can see the products. You may also find that some customers prefer spout pouches with a frosted look.
A typical spout pouch is mainly composed of multiple layers of different barrier materials laminated together to form a continuous sheet. Barrier materials and pouch construction determine the safety and shelf life of your products
In short, the material determines whether the bag will leak, crack or tear, so a high-quality bag needs to be selected to minimize possible problems. Usually, different spout pouch materials will make different contents.
However, there are mainly three types of materials used to make spout pouches for different products. These materials include foil (usually aluminum), polypropylene and polyester.
Essentially, all three of these materials are combined in varying proportions to create spout pouches of varying variety and quality. The spout pouch structure contains 2-3 layers, including the outer layer, middle layer and inner layer.
1) The outer layer of the spout pouch
Ideally, the outer layer consists of an actual finish, usually designed to grab the customer’s attention and convey a brand message. The ideal material for the outer layer of the spout pouch is kraft paper because it is natural and environmentally friendly.
In addition to adding aesthetic value to this bag, the kraft paper is also very strong and durable, thus assuring the quality.
2) The middle layer of the spout pouch
It is also an essential part of the construction of the spout pouch. You can make it with various film materials. However, aluminum foil, metalized film or polyethylene terephthalate (PTE/PETE) are usually preferred.
Aluminum foil is relatively durable and can store products for more than 20 months compared to metalized films, which have a shelf life of about 13 months. In addition, aluminum foil has a higher aesthetic value and provides better protection.
Metalized films are typically used for relatively low-end packaging solutions or fast-moving products. It provides barrier protection, but is not necessarily as durable as aluminum foil.
Plus, it has a metallic look, so it doesn’t necessarily attract many customers when the bag is opened.
PTE/PETE is a thermoplastic polymer resin, which is a suitable interlayer material, mainly for the packaging of personal care, food and beverage products.
3) Inner layer of spout pouch
It is an essential element in spout pouches, especially when used in food and beverage packaging. Ideally, the inner layer of the bag is in direct contact with the product.
Linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) is a widely used material for the inner layer of this packaging component. Technically, it’s recommended because it’s also FDA-approved.
Additionally, this material allows for easy heat sealing of spout pouches, which subsequently provides a tamper-evident seal for your product. Essentially, this gives your customers confidence that the product has not been opened or tampered with.
4. Choose the right pocket opening design
When choosing the right spout pouch design, you need to figure out what specific product you’re going to be packing. It is also important to understand the target market for the product so that you can invest carefully in designing that component.
However, if you make bubble baths, drinks, or other liquids, you can equip your pouch with a built-in lid or spout. Essentially, this makes dispensing the contents relatively easy, quick and clean.
Additionally, consumers may appreciate the ease of emptying the entire contents of the pouch, which would be more convenient with a spout. When designing a spout pouch, make sure to customize it so it stands out from the competition.
Make spout pouches with unique shapes and sizes that easily grab the attention of your customers. Also, consider adding a Euro slot to the top of the spout pouch for easy hanging on a hook display stand.
Most retailers like to have as many options for merchandising as possible; therefore, built-in holes make it easy to please. When designing spout pouches, ensure consumers can easily open and access the contents.
Of course, this depends on the exact nature of the product you are packing in the bag. If your product is relatively large and heavy, consider adding die-cut handles. It allows customers to easily carry it in one hand while leaving the other hand free for other clutter.
5. Seal material and spout to make a spout pouch
A highly mechanized environment is used for this step.Printing is done before sealing material and spouts.
Typically, printing is done using specially formulated inks that do not bleed the plastic into the product. Printing deals with branding and providing other relevant information about products and companies.
Once that’s done, the next step is to feed the package into the machine’s magazine. The material passes through a set of plows, which fold the W-shaped gussets to the bottom, allowing the bag to stand upright.
Ideally, this aspect would require human interaction, and the greater the magazine capacity of the machine, the faster the sealing process would be. The magazine has a rubberized gas piston that gently presses the magazine sideways. At the same time, they are evenly fed into the machine.
Using a suction arm, the sachets are then collected and moved onto rubberized conveyor grips. As the bags pass through, the jig tilts them at an angle and prepares them for insertion into the nozzle.
Ideally, the nozzles come from a different magazine and then go down the chute into the dispenser. The dispenser puts the nozzles into the bag one by one.
This happens instantly and the spout is quickly sealed to the sprout with a pair of heat-seal clips that close from both sides.
6. Spout pouch quality inspection
In essence, the manufacture of spout pouches is a highly industrial activity that requires high-end machinery and technical know-how. Spout pouches are usually subjected to multiple tests to verify their applicability and reliability when holding different products.
Some of these tests include the following;
- Interlayer adhesion test – the essence is to judge the level of interlayer adhesion of self-pocket film structure.
- Puncture resistance test – Designed to check the level of pressure required to puncture the flexible packaging material used to make the spout pouch.
- Tensile test – This test is designed to determine how far a material can be stretched and the amount of force required to break it.
- Compression test – This test is designed to determine the amount of air pressure the spout pouch can withstand.
- Seal strength test – This analyzes how well the seal performs and how efficiently it keeps the spout pouch closed for a specific period.
- Drop test – The essence of this test is to determine the height to which the spout pouch can be dropped without failure.
- Vacuum test – This identifies any leaks in the spout pouch under external vacuum pressure.
- Burst test – This test is designed to evaluate the optimum pressure at which the spout pouch will burst.
- Coefficient and friction test – it verifies the smoothness of film packaging.
All of these quality inspection tests are carried out in a well-equipped laboratory to ensure that your spout pouches function properly and provide reliable performance.
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