"Sister Zhang, how is the packaging line of this batch of middle-aged and elderly milk powder being debugged?" The workshop director Lao Li pushed open the door of the control room, and I looked up at the fully automatic packaging machine running at high speed on the monitoring screen: "The parameters have just been optimized, and now the tearing blasting force is stable below 5N, and the elderly can easily tear it open with two fingers."
Recently, the most discussed thing in the workshop is this newly introduced easy-tear packaging all-in-one machine. As the silver food market continues to expand, customers' requirements for packaging aging are becoming more and more detailed. Last week, the marketing department reported that the oatmeal purchased by a chain of nursing homes was difficult to tear because of the packaging, causing many elderly people to ask for help from nursing staff. This makes us realize that behind the seemingly simple "easy to tear" is actually the deep integration of precision machinery and humanistic care.
Xiao Wang from the technical department called up the test data from the handheld terminal: "Although the traditional sawtooth edge is easy to process, it is easy to scratch the elderly. Now, laser micro-perforation technology combined with a servo-driven packaging machine can produce millimeter-level micro-cracks on the film. Look at this sample, tear it all the way along the dotted line, and the fracture is neat and tidy." The protein powder packaging sample he handed over was indeed as smooth as if it had been cut with a knife.
After a tour of the packaging workshop, I found that the new equipment still has a lot of clever ideas. The intelligent induction packaging machine on the conveyor belt will automatically identify the product specifications and match the corresponding length of easy-tear strips to nut gift boxes of different weights. What's more considerate is that the surface of the packaging film has been matte-finished and non-slip, so it won't slip even if it is stained with oil. Xiao Liu, a packer, said while packing: "The return rate has dropped by at least 40%. Last time, an aunt called to praise the packaging for being easy to use."
Industry data shows that my country's aging-friendly food packaging market is growing at an average annual rate of 25%. But to really make easy-tear packaging, equipment alone is not enough. The control system of the packaging machine must be "smart" enough to automatically adjust parameters such as sealing temperature and tear strip length according to product characteristics. Just like the intelligent algorithm we just developed, even the thickness change of the packaging film can be compensated in real time to ensure that each tear is just right.
Watching the last box of elderly nutrition meals come off the production line in the twilight, the tear is faintly matte in the sunset. Suddenly I remembered the words of the designer at the R&D meeting: "Good aging-friendly packaging should make the elderly feel respected, not treated specially." Perhaps this is the meaning of the existence of the tear-off packaging machine - using the warmth of technology to protect the right of every senior citizen to live with dignity.
