Why the ‘packages per minute’ number lies to you
Every supplier leads with a speed number. It is measured on one product, one dose, one film, run until it jams, then averaged. Your plant does not run like that. To size a line you need four numbers that suppliers rarely ask for: real daily volume, shift pattern, changeover frequency, and expected yield loss.
Start from daily packs, not minute speed
Take your monthly target, divide by working days, then by shifts. If you need 1,200,000 sachets a month across 25 days and two shifts, that is 24,000 sachets per shift. A four-lane machine at a realistic 90 sachets per lane per minute, with 85 percent effective runtime, gives you about 18,300 per shift. You are short. That gap is what tells you to move from four lanes to six, or to add a second shift, before you sign anything.
Count the downtime you forgot
Film change, hopper refill, format change, cleaning between SKUs, and the daily warm-up all eat runtime. On a multi-product line, plan 70 to 85 percent effective runtime, not the 95 percent suppliers quote. We log this on every commissioning so the next buyer sees real numbers, not brochure numbers.
Lane count is a layout decision, not a speed decision
More lanes means more contact parts and tighter timing. If your dose is tricky (fine powder, sticky granule), four well-tuned lanes beat six fighting the product. Match lane count to dose behavior first, then to volume. See how we handle dosing behavior in our machine range.
Leave headroom on purpose
Size for 120 percent of today’s volume. Demand spikes, a new distributor, a private-label contract, all show up after install. The cheap insurance is one extra lane of capacity and a spare parts kit, not a second line bought in a panic.
What we ask before quoting
Daily packs, product type, dose range, film specs, and how many SKUs you run per week. With those five, we return a lane count, a realistic per-shift output, and the changeover time you will actually live with. If you are planning an oral-pouch SKU specifically, our oral pouch line page covers the format quirks.
Want the math run on your numbers? Send us your daily volume and product, and we will size the line in writing before you ask for a quote.