Highlighted Customer
Customer Insight
“It turns subjective quality into objective data.”
Application Overview
Repeatable Opening Force Testing for Packaging Quality Control
In packaging production, repeatable force measurement is critical to maintaining consistency across production lines. This customer uses a Mark-10 system to accurately and consistently measure the opening force of pull tabs on the company’s single-use rigid plastic food containers.
The results support quality control objectives by ensuring that the product is easy enough to open, yet adequately secure to avoid leakage during transportation.
The Challenge
Moving from Best Guess to Repeatable Precision
What specific challenge or problem were you trying to solve before choosing our equipment?
“Before we brought in Mark-10 equipment, we were essentially trying to ‘feel’ the quality. In a multi-cavity thermoforming operation, you can’t exactly rely on a ‘best guess’ to determine acceptable vs unacceptable. We had a lot of data, but we lacked the repeatable precision needed to catch subtle variances between Cavity 1 and Cavity 40. We needed to move away from ‘it feels about right’ to ‘here is the exact force it takes to...’”
The Application
Pull Force Testing for Packaging Quality Control
How are you using the Mark-10 system in your actual testing or production process?
“The Mark-10 has become the ‘Supreme Court’ of our testing lab. We use it primarily for pull force testing on our packaging. By running samples from different cavities through the system, we can verify that our knife depths and forming temperatures and pressures are dialed in perfectly. It’s the gatekeeper that ensures a customer doesn't need a gym membership just to open their lunch container.”
The Results
Fewer False Readings and Better Process Control
What measurable improvements or results have you seen since implementing our equipment?
“We’ve seen a significant drop in false production readings – meaning we aren't chasing ghosts in the machinery – and our scrap rates have thanked us for it.”
Why Mark-10
A Workhorse with a Brain
Why did you choose Mark-10 over other options you considered?
“We needed a ‘workhorse with a brain.’ While there are plenty of testers out there, the Mark-10 offered the best balance of ruggedness for a manufacturing environment, elegant data integration, and cost. It plays nicely with our statistical software and the ease of programming different test profiles meant my team could spend more time analyzing data and less time wrestling with the interface.”
Advice for Other Companies
Turning Subjective Quality into Objective Data
What would you tell another company considering Mark-10 for a similar application?
“It turns subjective quality into objective data. It’s one of those rare pieces of equipment that makes the technicians happy because it’s easy to use, and makes the managers happy because the charts finally look the way they’re supposed to.”
System Information
Mark-10 System Used
This packaging pull force testing application uses a Mark-10 force measurement system configured for consistent, repeatable opening force measurements and data communication with the customer’s quality control software.
- F1505-EM force test frame with EasyMESUR control panel
- Series FS05 force sensor
- UXU100 USB adapter allowing for two-way data communication with the customer’s third-party SPC software
- Customer-supplied custom fixturing
180° T-Peel Testing – ASTM F88 / D1876
