Types of Food Packaging Machines: A Buyer's Guide to Filling, Sealing and Wrapping Equipment

Filling Machines: Piston, Pump, Auger, Weigher and Liquid Fillers

Filling machines are the first group of food packaging machines to understand. They meter product into a container and differ by how they measure: volume, weight or flow.

Piston and volumetric fillers

A piston filler draws product into a cylinder and pushes out a fixed volume on each stroke. Because it displaces product positively, it handles pastes, dips and sauces whatever the viscosity. Servo drives set the stroke from a recipe, which shortens changeover. See our pages on piston filling machines, volumetric cup fillers and servo cup fillers. The SDH-R uses a servo-driven volumetric piston with ±0.5% fill-weight accuracy.

Peristaltic pump fillers

A peristaltic pump squeezes product through a flexible tube, so the product touches only the tube. That suits thin to medium liquids such as oil, dressings and sauces, and it is a low-shear option. It is a poor match for thick or chunky product. On the SDH-R it is an optional filler.

Auger fillers

An auger filler meters powder with a rotating screw. It suits spices, flour and protein powders. For a powder garnish such as a spice blend inside a cup, the SDH-R offers an optional vibration filler.

Net-weight and multihead weighers

Weigh-based fillers measure mass, not volume. Multihead weighers combine bucket weights to hit a target and suit dry, free-flowing or fragile solids such as nuts, snacks and salad greens. They are the wrong tool for sticky pastes. Cup lines with several filling heads work differently; see multi-head cup filling machines.

Liquid fillers

Gravity, overflow and pressure fillers pack free-flowing liquids such as water, juice and thin sauces, usually into bottles. This is bottle work; the SDH-R is not a bottle filler.

End-of-Line Food Packaging Equipment

Once the primary pack is closed, secondary equipment identifies, verifies and groups it:

• Labelers apply top, side or wrap labels carrying ingredients, allergens and nutrition panels.
• Date and lot coders print best-before dates and lot codes that support traceability and recalls.
• Checkweighers weigh each sealed pack in motion and reject under- or overfills.
• Metal detectors and X-ray units catch foreign material; where to place them is a hazard-analysis decision.
• Case packers and cartoners group packs into cartons and cases for palletizing.

On the SDH-R, top and side labeling integration, variable data coding, a longer discharge conveyor and a weight checker with feedback loop are available options. Metal detection, case packing and cartoning sit downstream as separate equipment.

How to Choose a Food Packaging Machine: A Practical Checklist

Work through these questions in order to narrow your shortlist of food packaging machines.

1. Product rheology. Is it a thin liquid, a paste that holds its shape or a free-flowing powder? Thick products need positive displacement such as a piston; thin liquids can use gravity or pumps.
2. Particulates. Seeds, herbs, nut pieces and chunks need wide-bore valving and gentle metering, or a weigher for dry solids.
3. Package format. Cup, tray, pouch, bottle or bag, and whether the container arrives pre-formed or is made on the machine.
4. Output and growth. Units per minute today and in three years, and the number of SKUs. Mid-volume, multi-SKU work suits rotary machines; high-volume single-SKU work suits inline lines.
5. Hygiene and cleaning. Look for food-grade stainless steel, clean-in-place (CIP) and tool-free strip-down. Allergen changeovers, including sesame, the ninth major US allergen since January 1, 2023, need a cleaning routine you can document.
6. Changeover. Ask how many minutes a SKU change takes and whether recipes are stored. The SDH-R changes SKUs in under about 15 minutes.
7. Footprint. Measure floor area and ceiling height. The SDH-R occupies 44 × 52 in and stands 65.6 in tall.
8. Budget and total cost. Include tooling, film, lids, spares and the labor the machine replaces.
9. Automation and service. PLC control with an HMI, plus local service. We have service centres in Alberta, New Jersey and California.

For unusual particulates or fill temperatures, talk to our engineering team before you decide.

Where the SDH-R Fits Among Food Packaging Machines

Among food packaging machines, the SDH-R is a fully automatic rotary cup filling, sealing and lidding machine, designed and built in Calgary, Alberta. It fills pre-formed cups and tubs from 50 g to 500 g (about 2–17 oz) with ±0.5% accuracy at up to 30 cups per minute on a dry cycle, and 18–25 in real-world production. In one pass, a cup moves through up to six stations:

1. Cup loading and denesting with a pneumatic denester.
2. Base component filling with a volumetric piston.
3. Optional second or third filling: paste, spices, nuts, oil or liquid garnish.
4. Roll-film membrane sealing, heat sealed and tamper-evident.
5. Optional nitrogen MAP flushing.
6. Optional plastic lid pick-and-place or snap-on lid.

Optional MAP reduces residual oxygen to 0.3–0.4% and typically extends refrigerated shelf life from roughly 7–10 days to 30–45+ days, depending on the product. Full specifications are on the SDH-R product page.

What the SDH-R does and does not do

Fit depends on details. Fill temperature, viscosity extremes and unusual particulates are confirmed with our engineering team before we quote, and fills under 50 g are outside the standard range.

Request a Quote for Your Packaging Line

Send us your product, cup size, target cups per minute and options. Our team may reach out to learn more about the application before quoting, and we reply within about 24 hours. Contact our team or call +1 (888) 922-7271, Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM MDT. We serve food producers in the USA, Canada, UK, EU, Middle East, Australia and New Zealand.