What are industrial blades for convenience food packaging?

As we’ve written previously, the convenience food industry – and its packaging – has developed considerably since the very first TV dinners made their appearance during the 1950s and 1960s.

With new packaging types and materials such as flexible top web films, base web films, doypacks and more becoming increasingly commonplace, industrial knives have had to change too.

After all, industrial blades have to put up with a considerable amount of wear and tear, providing reliable, high-quality cuts, all-day, every-day.

These days, the most common types of industrial blades that are used to cut convenience food packaging are tray seal knives and vertical bagger knives.

How important are machine blades to the convenience food industry?

When you look at the entire scope of a food processing operation, it’d be easy to think of machine knives as being a relatively insignificant factor.

This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Sure, we may be slightly biased, but overlook machine knives at your peril!

Machine knives play a crucial role in the overall function, efficiency, and ultimately profitability of convenience food operations.

If your machine knives fail, then this can cause your entire operations to grind to a halt – costing you thousands in unnecessary downtime and maintenance.

The other roles that machine blades play in the convenience food industry

It’s important to note that machine blades are not just used to cut packaging in the convenience food industry.

Machine knives are also used in the slicing and dicing of ingredients. For example, machine blades play a crucial role in one of the most popular convenience foods – crisps!

High-quality machine blades are used to finely slice potatoes into razor-thin chips – which are then fried or baked to create the crisps we all know and love.

Industrial knives are also used to separate foodstuffs such as dough or batter. These knives will also be used in the ‘finishing stage’, performing the cuts that give a convenience food its final shape.

So, if you’re looking at machine blades for your convenience food operations, think about all of your operations, not just packaging!

What to look for in machine blades for convenience food packaging

With those points in mind, let’s take a look at the three things to consider when choosing industrial blades for convenience food packaging.

1. Durability

As we pointed out above, the machine knives you select for your convenience food packaging operations need to be able to withstand considerable wear and tear, day-in, day-out for prolonged periods of time.

Because of this, any old machine blade won’t do.

The industrial blades you select should be designed and manufactured with durability and quality at the forefront of mind.

Here at MRMK, our machine blades are designed by experts with thorough knowledge of the fundamentals of metallurgy, engineering, and design. What’s more, our experts have extensive knowledge of the convenience food industry and its particular requirements.

As such, our machine blades are made from the highest quality, food-safe stainless steel.

Blades such as our tray seal knives are designed with the cutting characteristics that’ll cut a variety of films, foils, and plastics with ease.

Likewise, our vertical bagger knives are manufactured from high-grade, food-safe stainless steel, meaning they’ll be as durable as possible.

2. OEM quality (or better!)

On the one hand, some convenience food processors choose cheap machine knives as a means of reducing their operating costs.

This is very much a false economy.

On the other hand, some convenience food processors stick with OEM manufactured blades, which have a high price tag.

But, there’s a better, third way. MRMK’s machine blades.

MRMK was founded as we recognised that OEM blades were often far too expensive, whilst the alternative ‘off label’ blades were not of sufficient quality.

We have filled that gap, creating blades which are of OEM quality (or higher), at a fraction of the price charged by OEM machine manufacturers.

Explore our range of industrial blades, and you’ll find that they conform to OEM tolerances and specifications, with machine blades available for the most popular packaging machinery in use in the convenience food industry.

Don’t just take our word for it, though. We’ve supplied industrial blades to more than 800 customers in over 50 countries worldwide.

3. Cutting characteristics

The third thing you should consider when choosing industrial blades for your convenience food packaging machines is the cutting characteristics of your chosen blades.

Because there are now so many types of convenience food packaging (such as top web films, base web films and doypacks), it’s important that you select knives with the ability to cut your packaging materials.

For example, here at MRMK, we offer vertical bagger knives with a variety of edges including serrated, bevelled and scalloped – making it easy to find knives that’ll perform the kind of cuts you need.

Likewise, our tray seal knives are available with an array of serrated edges and ultra-sharp teeth – meaning they’ll provide highly accurate cuts over and over.

We are also able to provide packaging knives in a variety of coatings – so if you need to achieve a particular cutting characteristic – we can achieve that for you.

MRMK: the home of convenience food packaging knives

We hope you’ve found our guide to industrial blades for convenience food packaging both useful and interesting.

If you’re looking for new blades for your machinery, then speak to us today. Our expert, friendly team will be happy to discuss your requirements and can even accommodate requests for bespoke blades.

Buy your blades from MRMK and you can benefit from:

• Reduced downtime.
• Rapid lead times.
• Savings on your blade spending.

Here’s what one stock controller had to say about our blades, “The price and quality that MRMK offer means we no longer use OEM blades anywhere in our business”.

Explore MRMK’s machine knives for convenience foods now

For more machine knife buying guides, advice and information, read the MRMK News and Insights Hub…

The Ultimate Guide to the Best Machine Knives for Convenience Food Packaging | A Practical Guide to Machine Knives and Blade Material Selection | How to Optimise the Performance of Your Packaging Blades