The first stand-up pouch was manufactured via stand up pouch manufacturing in 1963. Originally two flat sheets were sealed together, but that basic design has gone through a series of improvements as companies pursue durability and aesthetics that make the packaging attractive to consumers.

Stand up pouches use fewer resources than conventional packaging such as boxes and cartons. They can also be highly personalized making them the truly modern way to package products.

These bags are air and watertight which makes them ideal for packaging food, chemicals, some types of clothing, etc. They also give companies an avenue to market their brands. That's why packaging suppliers are always coming up with new features to accommodate branding needs.

The latest features on these bags include zippers, spouts, and top holes that make pouring liquid or powder content less messy.

So how is a stand up pouch manufactured to achieve durability, functionality, and even preserve the environment? Read on to find out and email us to get started! Continue to learn more about what to expect from stand up pouch manufacturers. 

The Process

Continue to read to learn more about the pouch manufacturing process. Stand up packaging bags are built from plastic composed of a resin of granular polyethylene. This composition makes it easy to melt and flatten into different shapes.

This material is then used to create a long polyethylene tube. This tube can be over a mile long, but the cloth used to make it has a width of less than a tenth of a millimeter. This tube is allowed to cool before being flattened by a series of rollers into a long strip of plastic. The strip is wound on a cylinder to form a sheet.

Each bag has several films with each one made with materials that play into the water-proof and airtight features of the bag. Manufacturers select the materials carefully to ensure the packs are also durable.

The innermost layer keeps the content quality intact. It also comes into direct contact with the pack's content. Therefore, it is made of the polymer LLDPE which is FDA-approved.

The outermost layer often bears the company name and other branding messages. Manufacturers use alcohol-based ink to print words and images on these packs.

When the middle layer material is not made of clear material, it serves as a protective and branding layer. To achieve this, manufacturers opt for aluminum or films infused with metal or resin.  Some companies choose kraft paper material for the outermost layer because it looks natural. Kraft material is also durable and has a texture designed to make branding easy.

These layers are then cut into different sizes and shapes then stuck together through sealing by applying heat. A large conversion machine receives the finished film roll. The film is cut into various parts as it goes through the system, forming the top part, rear, and underside of the stand up pouch. 

Gussets are the bottom part and the reason a stand up pouch can stand. Part of the material used to make the rest of the bag goes through a machine that folds a perfect W-shaped gusset.

Functionality features are added separately depending on the pack. For example, spaces for handles are created through cutting with stamps. Zip locks are bound to the pack through heat.  Perforations indicating where to cut are also added at the last bit in the process.

The layers must be cured in a special high-temperature drying chamber after the lamination process. If laminated films are not properly cured, they can peel apart days or weeks after the bags are completed. Drying takes 2–4 days, and regardless of the deadline, this part cannot be rushed.

However, not all stand up packs are of good quality. Like with every other products, the cheaper they are, the poorer their quality.

In the United States, stand up bags use is rapidly on the rise. Traditional packaging techniques, which are bulkier, more expensive to manufacture, less consumer-friendly, and consume a lot of resources, are rapidly being replaced by these bags.

Printing Pouches

There are many kinds of stand-up bags such as, shaped, spouted, liquid, printed, box, retort, foil barrier, inverted, wicket, frangible seal, multi-compartment, EZ-stand and reclosable pouch which breaks into the zipper, hook & loop, slider, and press-to-close categories.

All of them go through different kinds of printing depending on market needs. The following printing methods are widely used to print logos, names, and other aesthetics on stand-up bags.

Plate Printing

The most economic and versatile way to print stand up pouches is with Rotogravure plate printing. Thus, most stand-up bags go through plate printing to add the desired look and information of the top part. The printer has different cylinders which contain different colors that make up the entire design.

Plate printing offers a very wide color range. Digital printing uses direct surface printing ink  which only uses cyan, magenta, and yellow, black and white. Moreover, with plate printing, you can play around with a mixture of gloss and matte.

Digital Printing

The ink used in digital printing does not permeate the substrate being printed on in many cases. It instead forms a thin layer on the substrate, which it adheres to further with UV curing or laser heating.

The main disadvantage of digital printing is that it is a more expensive method of printing on a basic level; as a result, digital printing is not recommended for long runs. Another significant limitation is its inability to match PMS colors. You can't have a mix of gloss and matte either. You can only go all matte or all gloss.

The digital printing method is not economically viable for big runs of up more than 5000 pieces. Multimillion-dollar firms may afford it but smaller firms are left to choose between the cost of buying raw materials and ordering attractive packaging.

If you're planning a high-color-count, a short-run project like trial runs, digitally printed stand-up bags are a good option. They are useful too when dealing with a constantly changing regulatory climate or have a lot of SKUs.

Flexography Printing

Loosely called flexo, flexography is a printing technique that employs a flexible (rather than a solid) plate. It's a more recent version of relief printing. Flexo printing is a popular method also used to print graphics, text, and images on stand-up pouches. Flexo printing is often used by a manufacturer on compostable bags to print directly on an outermost paper layer. 

Get Your Custom Printed Stand Up Pouch Design Made Here

If you're wondering why you're dealing with bag blowout, you are not alone. This issue is both frustrating and costly, yet an exceedingly common issue faced by many customers.

• Do you see ripped or torn edges? 
• Do you have tears in the middle of the material or along the sides of seams, or along crease lines? 
• Is the film next to the seal tearing away? 

If so, you have a classic bag blowout. The two most common factors that cause bags to fail or “blowout” (i.e. tear or rip due to internal pressure) are: 

• inadequate film strength for the application and/or 
• logistical path issues.

It is important to consider the thickness/strength of the film vs. the weight of the product.

• Weight and density of your contents
• Reactivity of your contents
• Do your contents out gas?
• Are the contents prone to transferring weight loads (powders, and liquids) or are they more absorptive of impacts?

Since most pouches are also used for marketing, it’s important to keep the cosmetic aspects of the film in mind as well as the strength.

Film Strength

Film strength is one of the first things to consider when reducing bag blowouts. The number of layers and composition of lamination layers. Choosing structures with layers that are specifically included for strength, like Nylon or EVOH, PFRA, etc will also help strengthen the pouch to handle the weight of the product inside and transportation pressure. We recommend doing appropriate in-house testing to determine the suitability of a new film to your product’s application before going into production.

CarePac Can Help

We offer small runs of as low as 5,000 bags per size to allow you to perform testing on new configurations or materials before going into full scale production environment.

Logistics Path:

You should evaluate the logistical path your bags are taking:

• How many pouches are having “blowouts”? Is it only a handful relative to the size of the order?
• Double check that master packaging standards are in place and being followed
• Always put the same number of bags per box.
• Inner packaging is the same in each box.
• The bags are being filled with the same exact weight of product.
• Protective packaging procedures, are the bags being protected from drop loads in transit?
• If out-gassing is an issue, consider adding a de-gassing valve.
• Air freight; low pressure environments cause pouches to expand if you have not gas flushed.

Certain logistical paths (most notably amazon.com) are very hard on pouches. They can experience drops, rough handling and abrasions. Pouches must be protected from abrasion and built for expected drop loads.

The logistical route the pouch takes can also influence the state of the pouch between the time of filling and when it eventually ends up in the end user's hands. We advise that you “build” your pouch for the worst case scenario in the logistical path (this includes a thoughtful consideration of the film strength mentioned above, along with feature placement, seal width, and bag weight).

Bag Blowouts Can Be Prevented

We sell flexible barrier packaging for hundreds of applications, each with unique characteristics: storage conditions, handling, loading, subsequent transport, method or equipment used to seal, or vacuum, and the composition or reactivity of contents placed in the bag and end user use characteristics. We can help you determine which materials and films are best for your project.

There is a lot that goes into running a business that is efficient and successful. Running a business takes passion, persistence, dedication, and, of course, money. From paying salaries and rent to product testing and marketing, the obvious expenses are big and add up fast. If you are not careful and never minimize or reduce packaging costs, you might be overwhelmed.

Luckily, there are several areas to consider when it comes time to be more efficient and cut costs. One of the areas to consider is reducing your cost for stand-up pouch packaging. Here is a guide on 10 easy great ways you can make an impact and save money on stand-up pouch packaging and other custom packaging.

1. Print In A Single Color to Reduce Packaging Costs

First in this guide is choosing different colors for your packing materials. From a logistics standpoint, it makes your packaging attractive which means you may sell more product. A 2013 study revealed that attractive packaging stimulates the brain's reward-seeking areas that are linked with impulse buying.

However, it is important to note that when you have a multiple-color design, you pay more. This is because more ink will be used, and mixing several colors for your mailer is also costly.

The good thing is that even one-color designs will look great if you pick the right color. Spend some time identifying the colors used in your industry so you know which colors attract more customers and will set you apart from your competition. 

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2. Using Plate Printing for Your Packaging

Digital printing is all the rage but you can often save money by using plate printing. Plate printing uses a thin aluminum plate to transfer your design onto the pouch. Most jobs can be completed with four plates for less if you use limited colors. This is one way to optimize how much you spend on packaging and flyers. 

3. Print Fewer Bags & Minimize Order Amount

Printing more bags is always cost-effective, but what is the point of having more if you end up not using all of them. If you are a startup and unsure how much product you will move, the best approach would be to print the Minimum Order Quantity (MOQ). That way, you won't spend as much initially and can reorder as needed. At CarePac we have low MOQs, only 5,000 bags, allowing you to optimize your order value. 

4. Be Aware Of Government Standards for Packaging

Staying compliant with the state's laws on any type of packaging is very crucial to avoid hefty fines that can leave your business crying for help. For example, if selling weed, a state like Alaska will require your stand-up pouches to be child-resistant and opaque. Colorado requires displaying a specific message on cannabis products. Not meeting requirements by states can be costly to your business in the long run. Government standards are not to be messed with if you want to run your business peacefully.

5. Choose The Right Material for Your Packaging

The material you decide to use for your operations and manufacturing can be the difference between spending more and saving money on stand-up packaging. That is why it is crucial to be certain about the material you want to use, as some materials are more costly than others. For example, does the use of CareSilver mylar save you money? Or will clear material do? These are some of the questions you need to ask yourself to choose the right material.

6. Know How Heavy the Product You're Packing Is

When moving cargo from a warehouse, its size, and weight can help you pick the right vehicle for the task. Similarly, when it comes to stand-up packaging, your products' size and weight are key to determining the material needed for packaging.

If packing heavy products, that will mean going for packaging materials that can hold more weight. The same applies if your products are light. Get stand-up pouches designed from material that can hold them intact during transit and limit the amount of bag blowouts.

7. Decide What Features You Want To Be Included

Additional features (zip locks, pour spouts, tear notches, etc.) added to your stand-up pouches come with an extra cost. The good news is that your pouches can still be functional with only critical features, like hang holes. Our team at CarePac can help you decide which features are crucial.

8. Plan Ahead & Reduce Failed Deliveries

Rushing the last minute is not recommended in business unless it is very urgent. Ensure you have enough time and plan ahead to avoid steep shipping costs for rush jobs on your stand-up pouches. Be sure to call our team when you notice your bag supply running low and we’ll help you get the best price. You might also want to consider carbon neutral shipping. 

9. Reduce The Costs Of The Artwork

A well-designed stand-up pouch looks amazing and can boost sales as the right colors and design stimulate impulse buying. But the truth is, your pouches don't have to be filled with artwork to attract buyers. A well-thought out design can grab the attention of customers. Save money by working with a designer familiar with packaging design as they can help you focus on what is vital to your business. Keep in mind that the more artwork is included in the design, the more you will pay.

10. Go With Stock Pouches As A Last Resort And Print Your Packaging Label for Deliveries

Stock stand-up pouches will save you money if you are just starting out. The best thing with stock stand-up pouches is that they are readily available and can be shipped to you in a few days. It will let you test various designs and find out which products customers like best. If you go this route we recommend making sure your label is well printed and you test it on your bag before you print a whole batch of labels.

High-quality, customized stand-up pouches can make your products fly off the shelf faster than those of your competitors. CarePac has stand-up pouches for your product no matter what you are selling. Whether you need 2-seal pouches, square bottom pouches, or stand-up pouches, CarePac is the packaging supplier you can count on. Get an quick online quote today tailored to your budget and watch your products fly off the shelf like never before -- all at a reduced rate and sent direct to your door.