Handling your filled, closed bags: An equipment overview
Handling open-mouth and valve bags after they're filled and closed may seem relatively simple. But even if parts of your handling operation are manual, you're faced with several equipment choices. This article is an overview of commonly used postfill bag-handling equipment, covering how the equipment works and how you can integrate it into a handling system that meets your production rate and fits your available space. Related information covers selection tips from various equipment suppliers and common selection mistakes to avoid.
Handling filled and closed bags -- whether open-mouth or valve style -- is really a matter of moving and orienting, flattening, and checkweighing the bags, then stacking them on a pallet and stretch-wrapping the load for shipping or storage. See Figure 1 for a typical bag-handling system. Commonly used equipment for each step is briefly described in the following sections.