Form fill and seal machines build the pack from two webs of film: the lower web is formed into a cavity, filled, and sealed under an upper web before the packs are cut apart. No trays to buy in or store, and a lower cost per pack once one format runs hard enough to absorb the tooling.
Ideal for: Dairy products, yogurt, sauces, condiments, pudding
Watch an FFS line in motion
FFS 100, 200 and 300 specifications
Models & technical specifications
| FFS 100 | 2350 mm (W) × 1260 mm (D) × 2200 mm (H) |
|---|---|
| FFS 200 | 2800 mm (W) × 1260 mm (D) × 2200 mm (H) |
| FFS 300 | 2800 mm (W) × 1500 mm (D) × 2200 mm (H) |
| Control panel | Colour touch screen panel |
|---|---|
| Control elements | Allen Bradley |
| Upper film | Flexible film, paper, folio — thickness up to 120 microns |
|---|---|
| Lower film | Rigid film, flexible film, folio — thickness up to 1000 microns |
| Type of forming | Compressed air only, unheated plugs |
|---|---|
| Type of cutting | Shaped cutting by mould knife |
| Packaging types | Sealing only; sealing and gas (modified atmosphere) |
| Retail packaging | Standard circular peg hole (“O” punch); wide Euro-slot display hole (“D” punch) |
Specifications as published on hefestus-tech.com.
When forming your own packs pays
Forming your own packs pays once a format runs long and hard enough to absorb the tooling. Below that, pre-made trays are usually cheaper and certainly simpler. The threshold is not a fixed number: it moves with what your trays cost, what storing them costs, and how many formats you run. If you are running one or two high-volume formats and paying for tray storage you would rather not, this is the machine class to be looking at. If you run a dozen short-run SKUs, a tray sealer will serve you better and we would say so.
What this replaces on the floor
The case for forming your own packs is made in the cost of the pack, not the cost of the machine. Work out what a bought-in tray or cup costs you today, multiply by annual volume, and set that against film at the same volume. That difference is the recurring saving, and it is usually larger than the labour saving people start with. Then subtract the tooling: a forming die per format, bought once, with its own lead time. If one or two formats carry most of your volume the arithmetic tends to work quickly. Spread thinly across a dozen SKUs it does not, because you buy a die for each.
Where an FFS line is the wrong answer
It is the wrong answer if your volume per format is low, if your SKU count is high and still changing, or if a retailer has specified a tray you are obliged to buy in. It is also wrong if you need the pack on shelf next month, because forming tooling is made to order. And it will not run a pack deeper than its forming envelope, whatever the throughput figure says. Where any of those apply a tray sealer is usually the better machine, and we would rather point you at one.
Format changes and tooling
Changing format on a thermoformer means changing the forming die, which is a planned operation rather than a between-batch adjustment. Ask for the time with your own crew rather than a demonstration crew, and ask what has to be re-validated afterwards. Two lines running one format each will often out-produce one line running two, once changeover is counted honestly.
Before you specify an FFS line
- Forming depth. Your deepest pack has to sit inside the machine envelope. Send the pack, not the drawing.
- Both film webs. The lower web forms the cavity and takes up to 1,000 microns; the upper web seals it and takes up to 120 microns. Confirm your intended film sits inside both.
- Gas or seal only. Modified atmosphere costs cycle time. A rate quoted seal-only is not the rate you will run at with gas flush.
- Retail presentation. If a retailer needs hanging packs, the machine punches a standard circular peg hole or a wide Euro-slot. Worth settling before artwork.
- Tooling per format. The forming die is specific to a pack geometry, so each new format is a capital purchase with its own lead time.
The dimensions, film envelope and control specifications above are on this page because you need them before you can price an installation, not after. What is missing is the electrical load for this range — rather than estimate it, we say so here and on the selector.