Vacuum packaging is an effective way to package food and materials with a low barrier to entry. In contrast, while thermoforming requires higher upfront costs, its scalability, and capacity to support growth is unmatched.
Here we delve into the benefits of both packaging methods.
Most Efficient
Thermoforming
Vacuum Packaging
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Labour
1
Up to 5
Efficiency
Highest
Least
Appearance
Streamlined and consistent
Inconsistent
Case Study
Our customer was processing large quantities of beef and lamb every week, packing them into bone-in vacuum pouches. They switched to thermoforming and gained complete return on investment in 12-18 months, as well as support for their continued growth.
Cost Savings:
Our customer reaped hefty cost savings from making this switch.
They found that a single thermoformer operator could complete the same amount of packing as multiple other workers using their old method. Before, they had employed four people packing the meat into bags, and a fifth to operator the vacuum sealer, now they require only one worker.
Vastly reducing the cost of wages, as well as mitigating sick days and annual leave effects on production numbers.
The other worthwhile cost reduction was the lower price of purchasing film, instead of purchasing bone-in vacuum pouches.
Greater Efficiency:
Our customer found that switching to thermoformer vastly increased their efficiency – by as much as three times. As mentioned above, they now only require one operator to manage the entire packaging process, which has become much faster, simpler and more streamlined.
On one of their packaging sizes, they went from processing 7-8 packs a minute, to 16 per minute.
They get far less breakers, due to a lower percentage of seal contamination, meaning far less time and expense wasted on repacking.
Thermoforming also allows the inclusion of robotics and additional automation down the track, to further bolster throughput.
Shelf Appeal:
Our customer feels that the switch to thermoforming has made their end product look far superior. This results in their customer’s perception of value for their product being enhanced.
Thermoforming also allows the inclusion of sauce doses, and other additions, giving our customer the opportunity to grow greater product diversity without a lot of extra processes or equipment.
Overall, thermoforming has transformed this customers business, making scaling a near effortless process.
