A spouted pouch or bag is a flexible type of packaging material that contains a lip or tube protruding from the container.
This guide provides comprehensive details on the different aspects of making a typical spout pouch for packaging a variety of products.
1. Understand the Intended Use of the Spout Pouch
Often, when making a spout pouch, one must first determine the specific intent of using it as a packaging option.
You can use spout bags in many ways including protecting, preserving and storing your product from air, moisture and many other elements.
Identifying the exact purpose of this packaging option allows you to easily identify other subsequent factors related to it.
For example, you can easily determine the ideal material for a spout pouch for a specific content and application.
It also allows you to determine the exact design, size and shape of the spout pouch to ensure you get the best and satisfactory results.
2. Design the Spout Pouch
Once the specific purpose of the spout bag has been determined, the next thing to do is to design the bag.
Now, it becomes easy because you will know what product is packed in the spout bag.
When designing a spout pouch, you should be aware that there is a specific limit to what it can hold.
Thus, this enables you to consider several important factors such as the shape, quantity and quality of a particular spout pouch and its intended contents.
It’s worth noting that the quality of the contents of this pack option determines whether a nozzle is required.
Nozzles also come in different shapes.
Therefore, it is important to ensure that the specific shape of your design resonates well with the product and the consumer.
For example, some nozzle designs need to come in handy, but the product may need rigid packaging.
Specifically, you have to figure out the nature of the contents of the spout bag.
This is necessary because it pinpoints the exact design that guarantees the efficiency of product packaging.
In essence, this is the basic factor you need to consider when deciding whether to use rigid packaging or flexible packaging.
Plus, it makes it easy to determine if the contents require a spout pocket with a zip, tear, or press-fit seal.
For example, liquid products are only ideally packaged in spout bags, not necessarily ziplock bags.
Nonetheless, it is also appropriate to consider the target market for the product.
This enables you to customize the spout pouch design to meet customer satisfaction.
In addition, it allows you to determine the cost of investing in the production of these bags and the possible return on investment.
3. Choose the material of the nozzle bag
On the face of it, the type of material for a spout pouch plays an integral role in determining its efficiency and usefulness.
The finish of the material is also an essential element that you must consider when choosing the ideal material.
Some customers prefer to pack their products with clear spout bags so that they can see the products clearly.
You may also find that some customers prefer spout pouches with a matte frosted look.
First, a typical spout pouch is made from multiple layers of different barrier materials laminated together to form a single continuous sheet.
Barrier material and bag construction determine product safety and shelf life
In short, the material determines whether the bag will leak, crack or tear, so high quality materials need to be chosen to minimize possible problems.
Usually, different spout bag materials will make different contents.
However, there are mainly three types of materials commonly used to make nozzle bags for different products.
These materials include foil (usually aluminum), polypropylene and polyester.
Essentially, all three of these materials are combined in varying proportions to create spout bags of varying variety and quality.
The mouth bag structure contains 2-3 layers, including outer layer, middle layer and inner layer.
1) Outer layer of nozzle bag
Ideally, the outer layer consists of an actual finish, usually designed to grab the customer’s attention and convey a brand message.
The ideal material for the outer layer of the spout pouch is kraft paper because it is natural and environmentally friendly.
Apart from adding aesthetic value to this bag, the kraft paper is also strong and extremely durable for quality assurance.
2) Middle nozzle bag
It is also an essential part of the nozzle bag structure.
You can use various film materials to make it. However, aluminum foil , metallized film or polyethylene terephthalate (PTE/PETE) are generally preferred.
Aluminum foil is relatively durable compared to metallized film, which can store the product for more than 20 months, while the shelf life of metallized film is about 13 months.
In addition, aluminum foil has a higher aesthetic value and provides better protection.
Metallized films are often used for relatively low-profile packaging solutions or fast-moving products.
It provides barrier protection but is not necessarily as durable as aluminum foil.
Also, it has a metallic look, so it doesn’t necessarily attract many customers once you open the bag.
PTE/PETE is a thermoplastic polymer resin and is a suitable interlayer material, mainly for packaging personal care, food and beverage products.
3) Inner layer of nozzle bag
It is an important part of spout bags, especially when used in food and beverage packaging.
Ideally, the inner layer of the bag is in direct contact with the product.
Linear Low Density Polyethylene (LLDPE) is a widely used material for the inner layer of this packaging component.
Technically, it’s recommended because it’s also FDA-approved.
Additionally, this material allows for easy heat sealing of spout pouches, providing a tamper-evident seal for your product.
Essentially, this instills confidence in your customers and assures them that the product has not been opened or tampered with.
4. Select the Appropriate Nozzle Design for the Bag
Different designs of spout bags
When choosing the right spout pouch design, you need to figure out the specific product you want to seal.
It is also important to understand the target market for the product so that you can invest carefully in designing that component.
However, if you make bubble baths, drinks, or other liquids, you can equip your pouch with a built-in lid or spout.
Essentially, this makes dispensing the contents relatively easy, quick and clean.
Additionally, consumers may appreciate the ease with which the bag can be emptied of all its contents, and the presence of a spout would be more convenient.
When designing a spout pouch, make sure to customize it so it stands out from the competition.
Create spout pockets with unique shapes and sizes that easily grab your customers’ attention.
Also, consider adding a Euro slot to the top of the spout bag for easy hanging on a hook display.
Most retailers prefer to have as wide a selection of items as possible. So, built-in holes make it easy to please.
When designing a spout pouch, make sure it is easy for consumers to open and access the contents.
Of course, this depends on the exact nature of the product you are bagging.
If your product is relatively large and heavy, consider adding die-cut handles.
It allows customers to easily carry it with one hand and free the other hand for other miscellaneous items.
5. Seal the material and the nozzle to make the nozzle bag
This step takes place in a highly mechanized environment.
Printing is done before sealing material and nozzles.
Typically, printing is performed using special inks, formulated so that the plastic does not penetrate the product.
Printing involves branding and providing other relevant information about products and companies.
Once complete, the next step is to feed the package into the machine’s library.
The material passes through a set of plows, which fold the W-shaped gussets to the bottom, allowing the bag to stand upright.
Ideally, this aspect requires human interaction to achieve, and the higher the machine’s magazine capacity, the faster the sealing process will be.
The magazine has a rubber pneumatic piston that gently presses the bag to the side.
During this process, they are evenly fed into the machine.
A suction arm then collects the bags one at a time and moves them onto a series of rubber conveyor grippers.
As the bags pass by, the jig angles them, ready to be inserted into the nozzle.
Ideally, the nozzles come from different magazines and are fed through chutes to the distributor.
The dispenser drops the nozzles into the bag one by one.
Once this happens, the nozzle is quickly sealed to the bud with a pair of heat-sealed clips that close from both sides.
6. Quality Check of the Spout Bag
In essence, the manufacture of spout pouches is a highly industrial activity that requires high-end machinery and technical know-how.
Spout bags are usually tested several times to verify their suitability and reliability for holding different products.
Some of these tests include the following:
- Interlayer adhesion test – the essence is to measure the adhesion level of each layer of the nozzle bag film structure.
- Puncture Resistance Test – Designed to examine the level of pressure required to puncture the flexible packaging material used to make the spout pouch.
- Tensile Test – The purpose of this test is to determine how much a material can be stretched and the amount of force required to break it.
- Compression Test – This test is designed to determine the amount of air pressure the spout bag can withstand.
- Seal Strength Test – This analyzes the seal performance and how efficiently it keeps the spout pouch closed for a specific period of time.
- Drop Test – The essence of this test is to determine the height to which the spout pouch can be dropped without failure.
- Vacuum Test – Determines if the nozzle bag is leaking under external vacuum pressure.
- Burst Test – This test is designed to assess the optimum pressure at which the spout bag will burst.
- Coefficient and Friction Test – Verify the smoothness of film packaging.
All of these quality inspection tests are carried out in a well-equipped laboratory to ensure that your spout bags are working properly and providing reliable performance.