Problems on this page:
Sachets leaking at the seals
Hits OEE: Quality
Symptoms: Sachets leak at the side, top or bottom seals, often found in the case.
Seal temperature or pressure wrong for the film
Check the seal settings against the recipe for that film.
Product in the seal area
Check the dosing timing so product is in the sachet before the seal closes.
Seal jaws worn or misaligned
Check the jaw faces and their alignment.
Film not tracking straight
Check the film tracking before the forming area.
Prevention: Leak test on samples each hour.
Dose weight varying
Hits OEE: Quality
Symptoms: Sachet weights vary more than the limit allows.
Dosing auger or cup filler worn
Check the auger or the volumetric cups for wear.
Product density changing
Check the hopper level and product flow; powders change density with level.
Liquid pump not calibrated
Calibrate the dosing pump for liquids.
Lanes not balanced on a multi-lane machine
Check each lane separately.
Prevention: Sachet weights checked per lane at a fixed interval.
Cut-off in the wrong place
Hits OEE: Quality
Symptoms: Sachets are cut through the print or the seal.
Registration mark not read
Clean the eye mark sensor and teach it the mark and background colours of the current film.
Film stretch varying
Check the film tension and the dancer, since a stretching film moves the print away from the knife.
Knife worn or timing wrong
Check the knife edge and its timing against the sachet length setting.
Print repeat on the film out of specification
Measure the print repeat on the reel and compare it with the film specification.
Prevention: Cut position checked at start-up and every hour.
Film breaks
Hits OEE: Availability
Symptoms: The film breaks inside the machine, and the line stops for rethreading.
Film tension too high
Check the dancer position and the reel brake settings for that film.
Weak splices
Check the splicing tape and method, and train operators on the standard splice.
Reel edges damaged in storage or handling
Inspect reels before loading and set damaged ones aside.
Rough or dirty rollers in the film path
Clean the rollers and check them for burrs or build-up.
Prevention: Film breaks recorded per reel and per film supplier.
Powder dust in the seal area
Hits OEE: Quality
Symptoms: Fine powder settles in the seal area and causes leaking sachets.
Dosing speed too high for the powder
Reduce the dosing speed until the powder drops cleanly into the sachet.
Dust extraction at the dosing point not working
Check the extraction airflow and its filter.
Static holding powder on the film
Check the anti-static bar and its supply.
Dosing tube ending too high above the seal
Set the tube so it ends inside the formed sachet.
Prevention: Seal area inspected on samples each hour.
Multi-lane slitting problems
Hits OEE: Availability
Symptoms: Lanes wander, slit edges tear, or one lane forms badly on a multi-lane machine.
Slitting knives dull
Replace the slitting knives on the interval set for the film.
Lane guides or forming parts worn
Inspect and replace worn lane guides.
Film tension uneven across the web
Check the reel alignment and the tension across the full width.
Knife position not matched to the print lanes
Set the knife positions to the lane layout of the film.
Prevention: Slit edges and lane forming checked each shift.
Counting or cartoning errors
Hits OEE: Quality
Symptoms: Cartons leave the line with too many or too few sachets.
Counting sensor dirty or misaligned
Clean the sensor and check its alignment to the sachet path.
Sachets stuck together after cutting
Check the knife and the cut-off so sachets separate fully.
Transfer timing to the cartoner drifting
Check the timing between the counter and the carton infeed.
Reject gate not removing wrong counts
Test the reject gate with a deliberate wrong count.
Prevention: Counts checked on cartons each hour, and the reject gate tested at start-up.
Changeover slow
Hits OEE: Performance
Symptoms: Product or size changes take long, and the first sachets after the change are wasted.
Change parts not staged before the run ends
Clean and stage the forming parts, dosing parts and knives for the next product.
Cleaning of the dosing system slow
Use a written cleaning sequence and quick-release dosing parts where available.
No settings stored per product
Store the seal, dose and cut settings as a recipe per product.
No standard sequence
Write the changeover sequence and time it.
Prevention: Changeover time recorded per product change.
Guidance only. Always follow lockout/tagout and your site's safe-work procedures, and verify against OEM manuals before acting.
Related equipment guides: form-fill-seal machine · cartoner · checkweigher · metal detector · multihead weigher
Stop the same fault coming back
Recurring sachet packing machine stops usually trace to a cause you cannot see by hand. The partner we recommend is Fabrico: it tracks OEE and downtime live from PLCs, IoT sensors or AI cameras; where cameras are fitted, the video of a stop sits next to its machine data so the cause can be reviewed; and a technician opens the work order from the stop in the same system. Data is hosted in the AWS EU region, and Fabrico and the company behind it hold ISO/IEC 27001, ISO/IEC 20000-1 and ISO 9001.
Book a Fabrico demo
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Related tools: full troubleshooting directory · OEE calculator · downtime cost · MTBF / MTTR · glossary
Methods that cut recurring stops: the six big losses · root cause analysis · preventive vs predictive maintenance · TPM · SMED & changeover