Why You Need Two Heat Sealable Packaging Pathways

Learn about the benefits and drawbacks of purchasing heat seal adhesive coatings or pre-made films, and learn how incorporating both options into your process can enhance flexible packaging product offerings and increase cost savings.

When manufacturing heat sealable flexible lidding for frozen meals, dairy, condiments and other applications, converters like you have options in how you meet performance requirements for brand owners. You can either:

Purchase heat seal adhesive coatings directly from an adhesive supplier and manufacture a finished film
Buy a pre-made, heat-sealable film from a film producer and apply additional coatings (such as inks) for a finished structure

These options both aid in supply security and help ensure brand owners can receive their heat sealable packaging when and where they need it.

While you’re likely doing one of these options, or “pathways”, you may not realize a second one exists. Or, even if you do, you may not realize you can participate in both.

Learn about the pros and cons you can expect when relying on only one of the two options for your package manufacturing and why participating in both pathways allows you to reap more benefits.

Pathway #1: Purchasing Heat Seal Adhesive Coatings

Pro: Customization Capabilities

If you buy a heat seal adhesive coating from a supplier and apply it to a film yourself, you can achieve total package customization. This enables you to differentiate your packaging from competitors in your market. For example, if your package requires narrow peel strength, you can easily adjust the heat seal coating weight and pattern for proper performance. The ability to customize also is especially useful for high-end applications where there may be a performance requirements or additional attributes needed, such as chemical resistance in condiment lidding. Further, you can manufacture a film that offers the exact performance capabilities needed for brand owners’ specific application needs.

Con: Inefficiencies for Standard Performance Packaging

While purchasing a heat seal adhesive coating can be beneficial for nuanced packaging requirements, it may not be as suitable for generic, standard packaging films that do not require customization. For example, if you’re applying heat seal coatings to shelf stable product lidding for standard tray stocks, you need to add to the number of passes the film goes through the coater before it is complete. This may result in additional production complexities and operation time to produce the finished product. Further, it could increase the facility’s overall energy usage.

Pathway #2: Purchasing Pre-Made, Heat Sealable Film

Pro: Streamlined Processing

Purchasing heat sealable film from film producers allows for efficient operations. This is because you don’t need to formulate or coat it yourself, helping to speed up the overall operation and reduce facility energy usage. Further, it can decrease chances for error likelihood early in the production process.

Con: Decreased Portfolio Offerings

While you may be running an efficient production line buying film from film producers, it does limit the types of heat sealable packaging options you can deliver to brand owners. For example, you are unable to offer packaging for applications that require specialized performance, such as condiment lidding. Purchasing pre-made film also means you can only offer the finished film’s heat seal performance that’s within the film producer’s product grade. Not only could this be above or below the needed end performance, but it can also prevent you from having the ability to:

Apply the adhesive in a pattern if flood coat is not necessary
Apply the minimum required heat seal adhesive

Why You Should Consider Incorporating Both Pathways Into Your Processes

Each pathway to manufacturing heat sealable packaging offers benefits; however, each also has their disadvantages. By incorporating both into your processes, you can fill the gap that each option is missing. This enables you to:

Round out product offerings: By purchasing heat seal coatings and pre-made films, you can efficiently and effectively offer brand owners both customized and standard packaging options. Coating the heat seal adhesive coating onto the film yourself allows you to offer customization to brand owners and delve into niche applications. Further, purchasing a pre-made, heat sealable film enables you to easily manufacture standard performance packaging at a streamlined, cost-efficient rate, helping you to meet high-volume demands.
Increase cost savings or profit potential: You can run both custom-applied heat seal coating film and pre-made film on the same coater. This means you can supply brand owners via two pathways while using the same coating assets.
- If you already purchase a heat seal adhesive coating and apply it to a film yourself, no additional investment is needed to also purchase a pre-made film. In fact, production costs can even be lower, given the efficiency enhancements for applications that do not require special criteria to be met.
- If you are currently purchasing a pre-made film, you can still use the same equipment you already have; however, you will have to incorporate an additional manufacturing step to apply heat seal coating to the film. This can result in increased revenue potential overall with the ability to offer differentiated packaging for customized applications, though, which may outweigh the added production time costs.

How Bostik Can Help with Your Heat Sealable Packaging Needs

As the adhesives solution segment of Arkema, Bostik allows you to rely on one adhesive supplier for both pathways. Our solutions are available in coatings, and we can connect you with film producers who utilize our coatings in their pre-made films. Our heat seal coatings are based on water-based and solvent-based technologies, with the potential to include additional features such as:

Anti-fog capabilities: This functionality prevents water droplets from forming on the package lid, allowing consumers to see the product directly. This helps increase likelihood the consumer will purchase the product since they can determine whether the product is fresh or damage-free. It also can help extend product longevity.
Dual functionality: We can incorporate heat seal capabilities with another performance feature, such as chemical resistance against high acidity products, into one coating layer. This allows you to get two performance features in one coating layer to help lightweight the overall package.

Furthermore, our heat seal adhesives are often coated at similar coat weights to other coatings within a final structure, helping you run a consistent operation without slow-downs. This allows for an easier transition if converters are interested in applying heat seal adhesive coatings themselves for the first time.

Additionally, our technical support team is here to help you determine the right formulations for your specific application needs. We also offer heat seal extruded resins to film producers, providing a reliable, one-stop-shop of heat sealable solutions to the value chain.

Are you ready to complete your product offerings by applying heat seal coatings to film yourself and buying pre-made film? Contact a Bostik expert to learn how we can help you easily produce heat sealable packaging via two pathways to offer customization and standard performance packaging to brand owners.