Why quality machine blades matter for co-packing
Surely a blade is just a blade?! Wrong.
Machine blades look deceptively simple, yet the very best examples embody years of research and development, engineering and metallurgical expertise.
What’s more, machine blades play a significant role in the success of your overall co-packing operations.
They may be small in comparison to other parts of your co-packing operations, but they have outsized impact.
The future of the co-packing market
According to recent research conducted by Technavio, the co-packing market is expected to grow as much as 8% through 2022.
With growth, comes increased competition as new players enter the market and established players attempt to grow their market share.
Plus, with more competitors, customers have more choice – meaning it’s vital that you maintain maximum uptime, reliability, and the quality of your operations. Fail to do that, and you’ll find your customers choosing a co-packing company that can.
High-quality, reliable, long-lasting machine blades are key to maintaining maximum uptime. They’re that important.
What types of co-packing machine blades are there?
Hopefully, we’ve driven home the point about how significant the use of quality machine blades is.
Great. But, you’re probably now wondering what types of co-packing machines blades are available? Is it possible to get co-packing blades for your machines and plant? The answer is almost certainly, yes.
With such a wide variety of packaging in use across the FMCG and other industries, there is an equally wide range of co-packing blades available.
The different types of co-packing machines blades available, include:
- Thermoforming machine knives, such as:
- Crush cutters.
- Coffee pod punches.
- Dished knives.
- Scalloped knives.
- Serrated knives.
Explore MRMK’s complete range of machine blades for co-packing, and you’ll also find a wealth of blades for specific brands of machinery and plant.
Plus, quality blade manufacturers like MRMK are able to design and manufacture custom machine blades for co-packing that meet your niche, specific requirements and use cases.
What to look for in high-quality machines blades for co-packing
It’s not simply enough to buy industrial blades which have been designed specifically for co-packing machinery. There are a number of other characteristics that you should also look for when shopping around for new machine blades for your co-packing machinery.
You’ll find those essential characteristics detailed below.
Quality materials
First and foremost, you want your chosen machine blades to be manufactured from the very best materials. After all, it’s the material which provides the fundamental characteristics, performance, and longevity of a blade.
By selecting industrial blades that are manufactured from high-quality stainless steel, you’ll not only find that the blades last longer (even longer than OEM equivalents in many cases), but the blades will not dull as quickly – reducing downtime and the frequency of regrinding.
Industry knowledge
The co-packing industry has very specific demands and requirements. So do its machine blades.
When selecting blades for your machinery, it’s important to pick a blade manufacturer that produces blades specifically for the co-packing industry, and which possesses an acute understanding of the challenges you and your packaging machinery face.
Innovation
As we said earlier, a blade isn’t merely a blade. The very best machine blades – especially those for use in the co-packing industry – embody years of R&D, engineering, metallurgical expertise and innovation.
In other words, select blades from a manufacturer which is demonstrating continual innovations that produce higher-quality, longer-lasting, more reliable blades.
Take, for example, MRMK’s innovative InfinitEdge® coating. This is a coating designed to outlast all others on the market – providing you with machine blades that truly will reduce downtime across your operations.
A choice of coatings
Selecting blades with the right coatings can make a big difference to the performance of your co-packing operations.
Because a wide variety of different types of plastic are used in co-packing operations, including ABS plastic, HIPS plastic, HDPE plastic, PVC plastic, PET plastic, PETG plastic and others, different coatings can improve the reliability, performance, and longevity of your industrial blades.
So, look for blade manufacturers that are able to offer their machine blades with a choice of coatings.
A reliable process
Whilst this point isn’t related to machine blades directly, it’s something that you need to factor into your search.
The chances are, if you’re ordering new industrial blades for your co-packing operations, you’re going to need them fairly quickly and with their design, manufacture, and delivery done correctly, first time, every time.
Look for machine blade manufacturers that are able to demonstrate a reliable process – which covers everything from the receipt of your order, through to quality assurance and the blades arriving quickly and correctly at your door.
When looking at a particular manufacturer’s process, it’s especially important to check that they can provide accurate production time estimates. This’ll prevent the scenario where your machinery is sitting idle because your new blades have been delayed.
Choose co-packing industrial blades from MRMK
We hope you’ve found this guide to machine blades for co-packing operations useful and helpful.
Here at MRMK, we are committed to designing and manufacturing the very best industrial blades for co-packing operations. We know how challenging the co-packing industry can be, and, to date, have supported over 800 customers worldwide with their machine blade requirements.
Let us support you with your co-packing machine blade requirements. Simply click ‘Request a Quote’, and a member of our friendly, expert sales team will contact you to discuss your requirements.
Explore MRMK’s machine knives for co-packing now
For more machine blade buying guides, advice and information, read the MRMK News and Insights Hub…
5 Signs It’s Time to Replace Your Machine Knives for Co-Packing | Everything You Need to Know About Thermoforming Machine Knives | How to Optimise the Performance of Your Packaging Blades
