People have been packaging products for thousands of years. From the time the earliest humans stepped out to go on a long hunt, it was necessary to wrap food for the journey in something – be it leaves or grass – in order to keep the food from spoiling. As time progressed, new innovations allowed new foods to be packaged for transportation. And innovations were made to package non-food items, as well. Packaging allows for the easy transport of anything and everything that people produce.
But fast-forward a few thousand years. People no longer produce things on a small scale. Even when an entire year’s worth of a harvest was required to be packaged for transport across the country, it did not compare to the production capacity of the twentieth century. New manufacturing technology has made it possible to produce thousands of pieces of a product in a single day. Anyone who has walked into a big-box store or supermarket has experienced firsthand the overwhelming mass production that is possible with modern techniques.
With high-speed production comes the need for high-speed packaging. This is not something that can be accomplished by hand, and requires specialized machines and technology for the process. An important part of high-speed packaging is hot melt equipment. Since hot melt is literally what holds the packaging in an industrial world together.
Hot melt glue has the ability to rapidly cool and bond materials, which allows manufacturers to quickly seal and secure products. Companies across all industries know if items are not properly packaged and available to ship immediately after production, they will lose money. Humans continue to build on the idea of wrapping things in leaves and putting items in a containers for transport. The key to continued progress is incorporating new technologies as well as adapting to the needs of an ever changing global market.