I am Lao Zhang, and I have been the assembly team leader in the packaging machinery factory for fifteen years. Over the years, I have watched the fully automatic sealing machines in the factory update six generations. The recently launched seventh-generation model has made me, an "old hand", shine. Today, I will talk to you about why the current fully automatic sealing machine has become the key to upgrading the production line.
I remember that when we debugged the equipment ten years ago, the operator had to use a vernier caliper to measure the sealing temperature. The new model now is equipped with an intelligent temperature control module, which is like giving the machine a brain. Last week, I debugged a fully automatic sealing machine for a local fast food company. Their workshop director slapped his thigh and said, "If we had used this equipment two years earlier, there would not have been a sudden stoppage due to orders on Double Eleven last year!" This is true. Today's intelligent sealing equipment can automatically match packaging films of different materials, and the line change time is shortened by 40% compared with the old models.
Flexible packaging solutions are our factory's current specialty. The solution we made for a freeze-dried food factory in Northeast China last month was very interesting. Their production line had to process bagged nuts and canned fruit powder at the same time. We equipped the fully automatic sealing machine with a dual-module switching system, which is like installing two sets of "skills" on the machine, switching between heat sealing and capping modes in seconds. When the factory director accepted the inspection, he specifically asked me to go to the workshop and pointed to the equipment in operation and said, "This is real intelligence, more reliable than hiring five skilled workers!"
We also put a lot of effort into the maintenance of packaging equipment. The new models are equipped with a self-checking and early warning system, which is like hiring a 24-hour doctor on duty for the machine. At midnight last Wednesday, the equipment of a Hunan customer suddenly alarmed, and remote diagnosis found that the conveyor belt bearing was abnormal. The next day, our engineer went there with the spare parts and solved the problem before the morning shift started. The customer later said in the WeChat group: "This fully automatic sealing machine is worth buying. It can report faults by itself and can be diagnosed remotely. It is smarter than my BMW!"
If you want to upgrade the current packaging production line, you really can't avoid the core of the fully automatic sealing machine. In the beginning of this spring alone, we have transformed the production lines for eight dairy companies. One customer used semi-automatic equipment, and each shift had to be equipped with six operators to monitor the sealing process. After replacing it with our intelligent sealing equipment, now only two inspectors are needed to look after the entire line. The boss calculated that this item alone can save more than 200,000 labor costs each year.
Recently, the technical department of the factory is preparing a big move again. I heard that the next generation of fully automatic sealing machines will use AI visual inspection. I met Xiao Wang from the R&D department in the cafeteria that day. The young man said to me mysteriously: "Master Zhang, you have to spare the most capable assembly team next month. We are going to install the 'fire eyes and golden eyes' that can identify thirty kinds of sealing defects!" Don't tell me, I am really looking forward to this new breakthrough.
The longer I work in this industry, the more I understand that the final battle of packaging machinery is to see who knows the production site better. Our factory insists on sending engineers to the workshop every quarter, and has collected improvement suggestions from operators of more than 200 production lines in the past three years. The fully automatic sealing machine you see now has a larger scale on the sealing pressure adjustment knob, which is based on the suggestion of Mr. Li, a customer from Fujian. He said, "We can adjust it accurately even with gloves on, which is called practical innovation."
From manual to semi-automatic, and then to the current intelligent sealing equipment, the upgrading pace of the packaging industry has never stopped. Our factory insists on investing 12% of its revenue in research and development every year, so that customers can use "thinking" equipment. Next time you come to our factory for an inspection, I will take you to see the eighth-generation prototype that is being tested, and I guarantee that you will have a new understanding of the upgrade of the packaging production line.
