The product being packaged is usually more important than the industry itself. Two food manufacturers, for example, might need completely different machinery if one is packing wrapped snack bars and the other is handling frozen food in flexible bags. The way products arrive at the machine and how they need to enter the carton will influence which equipment is suitable. Jacob White can adapt established machine designs to different applications, including the feeding arrangements needed to handle particular products.

On a protein bar packaging line, individually wrapped bars may arrive at several hundred products per minute. Before entering the cartoner, they need to be organised into the correct quantity for each box. This becomes more complicated when a manufacturer produces different bar sizes or changes the number of bars in each carton. Other food products present different challenges. Frozen food in flexible bags, for example, may require horizontal or vertical insertion depending on the packaging format. Jacob White supplies cartoning equipment and product handling solutions for these different applications.

Tissue products are lightweight and can be difficult to control as they move into a carton, particularly at higher production speeds. Jacob White typically uses sliding product buckets to keep products correctly positioned during loading, although this arrangement is not suitable for every machine. In another project for a UK tissue manufacturer, additional side-control guards were introduced to help handle larger tissue formats. Keeping the products properly positioned as they enter the carton helps reduce the risk of loading problems.

Jacob White's drinks packaging machinery is primarily designed for cartoning and case packing, where products have already been filled or placed in their primary packaging. Bottles, for example, need to be kept stable as they enter the carton, while smaller items such as coffee pods or sachets may require a different feeding arrangement. The company supplies semi-automatic and fully automatic cartoners for these applications. If a production line also requires liquid filling equipment, that stage needs to be considered separately when planning how the machines will work together.

Healthcare products can arrive at a cartoner in very different forms, from sealed blister packs to medical bottles, so the loading method needs to suit the particular product. Manufacturers also need to consider the requirements of their production environment. Where batch coding or barcode inspection is required, this should be discussed during the machinery specification process, since certain Jacob White machines offer these features as optional equipment. Any additional hygiene or regulatory requirements should be agreed before the final machine design is approved.

Yes. Jacob White supplies machinery for a wide range of sundry products, including firelighters, playing cards and automotive components. The difficulty often lies in getting the products into the correct position before loading. Playing cards, for example, may need to be presented as a complete pack, while firelighters could require a different arrangement depending on the intended carton format. Jacob White can assess whether an established cartoning machine is suitable or whether a particular feeding or loading arrangement needs to be developed.

The five industry categories cover Jacob White's main markets, but the company also works with manufacturers whose products fall outside these groups. An unfamiliar product can be assessed to establish whether an existing machine design is suitable or whether modifications would be needed. Representative samples are particularly helpful at this stage, especially if the product comes in several sizes. Providing the intended carton design alongside the samples gives Jacob White a better understanding of how the product will need to be handled during packaging.