A pouch is the one pack where the label has to be applied to something that is not rigid, not flat and not always the same shape twice.
A pouch labeler is a machine that places a label on a filled pouch or bag. The searches for it return mostly desktop machines for small shops. This page is for the commercial plant: a pouch or bag line running through a shift, where the label has to land square and the lot code has to be right.
Marapack Services is the Pacific Northwest distributor for Altech labeling systems, and we supply and service labeling and coding equipment for packaging lines across the US. We will also tell you where our equipment is the wrong answer. Want that answer for your pack? Book an equipment audit and bring a filled sample.
What can a top labeling head do on a pouch or bag?
An Altech top labeling head can apply a preprinted label to the face of a filled pouch or bag that lies reasonably flat on a conveyor belt. Whether it works on your pack depends on fill, seal shape, film and label size, which is why we test a real filled sample rather than promise it.
Be clear about the limit. Our heads are built around a rigid or semi rigid pack carried on a belt. A soft pouch with a bulge in the middle, a stiff top seal or a loose fill is a harder target, and a label that lands on a moving bulge wrinkles.
What helps, on a pack that suits a belt:
- A belt that holds the pack flat. Stabilizing belts over light packs, and a conveyor sized to the pack, are part of the system. The conveyor range is on our labeling machines hub.
- The right applicator. Altech's applicator range includes air blow and soft touch types, and which suits a given film is settled by a trial, not a catalog.
- A sensor that sees the label. Clear film can fool a standard sensor; a label sensor built for transparent product exists.
If the pouch stands up and the label goes on its side, that is a different handling problem from a top label on a pouch lying flat.
Where is a dedicated pouch labeler a different product?
A dedicated pouch labeler is built around handling the pouch itself: gripping or supporting it upright, flattening it for the label, often feeding it from a filler. That is a different machine from a top labeling head, and we do not position our range as one. Be honest with yourself about which you need.
If your pouch is filled and sealed upstream and travels flat on a belt, a top label head on a belt is a normal solution. If it is a stand up pouch that must be held upright and flattened, a purpose built pouch machine, or a label applied before filling, may be the better answer.
Tach-It publishes an automatic label applicator for pouches and flat boxes, the Mini-Con BL. We service Tach-It machines and stock Tach-It parts. Ask us about the label side of a pouch problem and we will tell you plainly if the best answer is not ours.
Which Marapack and Altech equipment fits which pouch and bag job?
Match the equipment to the job: preprinted top labels, top and bottom labels on flat packs, variable lot code labels, direct codes on film, and labels on the case that holds the pouches. Each has its own head, and some jobs are better solved by a code than by a label.
- A top label on a flat pack: an Altech ALstep or ALritma head on an ALbelt conveyor. See label applicators.
- Labels on both faces of a flat pack: our top and bottom labeling machines page covers the underside through a gap between two belts.
- Front and back on a bag or tub: our front and back labeling machines page.
- A variable lot code or barcode on a label: an ALcode print and apply head, described on our print and apply labeling systems page.
- A date or lot printed on the film itself: thermal inkjet with solvent based ink on film, thermal transfer overprinting inside the packaging machine, or hot foil on film where the information is small. All are on our coding and marking page.
- Service on pouch line equipment you already own: labeler repair and service.
Should you label the pouch or code it?
Code the pouch directly when the only variable data is a date, lot or batch and the film takes ink. Label it when you need a barcode graded to a customer's specification, a large amount of text, or a label your brand design requires. Many plants do both, a code on the pouch and a label on the case.
Printing straight onto film avoids the label, the liner and the label handling, and a thermal inkjet code is quick to change. The trade-off is the surface: film must take the ink, and the pack must be presented close to the printhead. A label is the safer route for a scannable barcode. Our coding page covers that decision in detail.
What retailer and traceability expectations apply to pouches and bags?
For food products sold to a large retailer, the label requirements sit on the case and the pallet rather than on the individual pouch. Walmart states that all food suppliers must use a GS1-128 case label carrying traceability data and an SSCC-18 on the pallet, linked to an advance ship notice.
That requirement is from Walmart's food traceability requirements, which also expects lot or batch codes and date codes. A case label with a variable lot code is a print and apply job, and the pallet label is a pallet labeling job; the case label's structure is explained in our GS1-128 and SSCC label guide. Your buyer's current specification governs, and the pouch's own label content (nutrition, claims) is a matter for your label supplier and regulators, not for us.
What do we not sell for pouch and bag lines?
We do not sell pouch fillers, form fill seal machines, baggers, wrappers, case packers or other packaging machinery, and we do not sell continuous inkjet or laser marking. We sell labeling and coding equipment and the service for it. The searches for pouch equipment are full of packaging machinery makers; we are the labeling and coding supplier that works beside them.
We also do not serve the small shop or home seller looking for a desktop pouch label printer and applicator. Those machines are sold by consumer and craft suppliers, and they are a different product from a line-integrated labeler.
Frequently asked questions
Can your labeling heads label a stand up pouch? Not as a dedicated pouch machine. Our heads suit a pouch lying flat on a belt. A stand up pouch held upright needs a purpose built handling arrangement, and we will say if that is the better route.
Can you label a bag with a label on top? Yes, where the filled bag lies flat enough on a belt for the label to land without wrinkling. We confirm on a filled sample of your actual bag, because fill and seal shape change the result.
Do you sell a desktop pouch labeler? No. Our equipment is for commercial lines.
Can you print the date directly on the pouch? A thermal inkjet printer with solvent based ink can code onto film, and thermal transfer overprinters and hot foil coders are available through the Altech price list for film packs. Test it on your actual film, at your line speed.
Do you sell the bagger or the form fill seal machine? No. We sell labeling and coding equipment and service it. Fillers and baggers come from packaging machinery makers.
Can you label the cases the pouches go into? Yes. Case labeling with a variable lot code is print and apply work, and the pallet label is covered by our pallet labeling equipment.
How much does a pouch labeling machine cost? It depends on the head, the conveyor and handling, whether it prints variable data, and the number of label points. We quote after walking the line, because a price given before the pack and speed are known is a price for a different line.
Bring us a filled pouch
The most useful thing you can do is bring a filled sample and the label to a line walk. We look at how the pack lies, where the label should go and what the line speed is, then tell you whether a top head, a code or a different machine is the right answer. Call 253-709-5566 or request an equipment audit.