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The helpfulness of heat sealers cannot be understated. However, you might need a little help understanding heat sealers. While most people know that heat sealing is critical for keeping products safe and secure, not everyone knows how these devices actually work in conjunction with packaging materials.

Heat sealing is something your brand will need to manage on an in-house basis if you handle order fulfillment directly. Heat sealing can be used for products, specific components, or entire orders. The important thing to know is that heat sealing isn’t needed for all product categories. However, it’s essential to formulate an impeccable, variation-free plan for heat sealing in cases where a product requires heat-sealing for safety and quality control. The good news is that modern heat sealers are easier to use than ever before. It is possible to get custom sealing done on an in-house basis after sourcing quality custom packaging for your products. Take a look at heat sealing 101.

What Is a Heat Sealer?

A heat sealing machine is a sealer that uses heat as the medium for creating strong, secure adhesion. Generally, a strong wave of heat capable of melting and merging the packaging material being used is the source of the seal. The beauty of heat sealing is that it doesn’t just work for sealing a singular material. It can also be used to conjoin different materials as long as all materials involved have thermoplastic layers.

Why Is Heat Sealing Necessary for Packaging?

A wide variety of industries use heating sealing when packaging products. Heat sealing is used for food packaging, medical products, construction products, beauty products, single-use packaging, and much more. Heating sealing can be especially important for food packaging because it helps to prevent food spoilage, tampering, and contamination. As anyone in the food industry knows, food waste is an expensive problem. It’s estimated that $218 billion per year is lost due to food waste. Proper heat sealing is also important for medical products because it creates a seal that helps to prevent contamination and tampering. Some of the advantages of using heat sealing in packaging production include:

• Heat sealers are very easy to use.
• Heat sealers work quickly. Each task can be done in seconds.
• Many types of heat sealers don’t actually draw power unless they are actively sealing even if they are turned on.
• Modern heat sealers are designed with safety features that make them incredibly safe.
• Sealed packaging cools very quickly after being sealed.
• Heat sealing adds to customer confidence and satisfaction.
• Heat sealing contributes to product integrity.
• Heat sealing can save companies money by reducing the rate of destroyed/decaying products.
• Heat sealing gives sellers and manufacturers confidence about shipping their products.

Many product managers don’t realize just how convenient modern heat sealers truly are. They are user-friendly, low-effort machines that allow for quality control measures all the way up through the final processing stage of a product sale. What’s more, they can work beautifully with an existing packaging plan that involves custom product packaging that is shipped to a warehouse or processing location from your packaging vendor.

What to Expect When Using a Heat Sealer

There’s some variance in the way that sealers work based on brand, model, and sealing technique. However, the basic concept is similar across the board. Modern heat sealers tend to be very intuitive. That means that you’re likely to get a “ready light” signal that makes your job easier for you by alerting you to the fact that the machine is ready to seal your packaging. A standard process with a heat sealer might look like this:

• 1. Plug in your sealing machine.
• 2. Set your timer.
• 3. Place your packaging on the sealer.
• 4. If the bag is not already filled, you can do it at this point.
• 5. Place the open end of the bag on the sealing pad.
• 6. Bring down your sealing arm. Use the amount of pressure specified in your manufacturer’s instructions to seal the package.
• 7. The indicator light should tell you when the seal is secure.

Most heat sealers make it possible to use a “cut and seal” option. With this feature, you’re cutting excess plastic at the point of sealing right after your seal is made. This can be a good option for shaving time off of quality control.

Factors That Shape the Sealing Experience

It’s important to do research on a heat sealer’s capabilities before making a commitment to a specific model. Several factors can actually determine if a machine is appropriate for your packaging needs. In addition to being strong enough to work with the weight of the product being sealed up, a sealer must also have the capability to create a seal that’s strong enough to withstand the ups and downs of shipping and handling. Of course, the end-user cannot be forgotten. Seals need to be durable enough to prevent accidental opening while still being easy enough to open for the end-user without causing stress, strain, or product damage. Here’s a look at some key terms to know about when optimizing your process for heat sealing:

• Dwell Time: Your dwell time refers to the time your heating elements are going to be in direct contact with your packaging materials. With a heat sealer, the heated elements include plates, bars, and clamps. A heat sealing machine should provide enough dwell time for the elements to make contact. The process should also take into account true dwell time versus the “travel time” needed for the machine to engage into the closed position. Just a fraction of a second can determine whether or not proper contact is made for the level of heat intensity needed to keep a package sealed.
• Sealing Temperature: The packaging material and heating element must reach the ideal temperature in order for the sealant to activate. This will vary by packaging material. In most cases, the packaging vendor you’re sourcing your packaging materials from will be able to provide some information regarding proper sealing temperatures for your specific packaging material.
• Sealing Pressure: Pressure should not be overlooked! While heat is often thought of as the driving force of heat sealing, the truth is that the pressure used to bring the equipment in contact with the packaging material to create a seal plays a key role in ensuring a proper seal.

What should product managers see as the big takeaway with all of these very important elements of creating an impeccable seal? Quality testing is a critical aspect of creating the right system with the right heat sealer. It’s often necessary to do many trial runs to identify the correct settings based on the specifics of your product packaging. In many cases, it will be necessary to try different temperatures, pressure settings, and dwell times to get a precise result. What’s more, brands cannot simply judge the effectiveness of a process solely on how the sealed packaging “looks.”

Shipping tests should be done to create an accurate assessment of how the seal worked in a real-world testing environment. This means that the packaged and sealed product should be sent through the mail for the purpose of judging its condition upon arrival. If the packaging performs as it’s intended to perform during shipping and handling, this is an indicator that the right settings were used on the heat sealer. If the packaging falters in some way, this is an indication that some aspect of the heating process was not powerful enough to create the degree of sealing needed to keep the product safe.

Does Your Brand Need Help Making Sense of Heat Sealing?

While heat sealing may be the final step in product packaging, it should never be the last thing a brand thinks of in the planning process. Heat sealing can help to keep products secure while also securing consumer confidence in your brand. At Mid-Atlantic Packaging, we take pride in helping our clients find the perfect sealing solutions based on the specific packaging options they’re using to distribute products to customers. Let us help you design a complete packaging plan with no need to leave room for guessing. Arrange your custom retail packaging quote with Mid-Atlantic Packaging today!