What You Need to Know - MacKenzie and Partners Inc. - Packing Films, Systems and Solutions

A skin package is made by sealing product in between a layer of heated plastic, and one of adhesive coated paper. As seen to the right, the plastic is trapped in a frame that travels between the oven and the vacuum area.

Once the plastic is secured and the frame raised out of the way, the board is loaded into the vacuum area and the product placed on top of the paper(seen at right as blue boxes).

After the oven heats the plastic for a preset time, the frame lowers, the vacuum is activated, and the vacuum pulls the plastic down over the product against the paper.

The hot plastic melts the adhesive, and the paper and plastic are bonder together.

Skin Board

Skin board is a specially formulated paper that is manufactured with microscopic pores to allow air to pass through during the process. After the board is printed, a heat activated adhesive is applied to the face of the board.

During the skin packaging process, heated plastic is lowered onto the board and drawn down around the product by vacuum. Wherever the hot plastic meets the adhesive, a bond is formed.

After the skin process, the individual cards can be separated by either a knife, paper cutter, or steel rule die cutter. To prevent "dog ears" at the corners of the cards, most finished packages have rounded corners. To facilitate hanging on peg hooks, a hanghole is usually added. Both of these items can be added when cutting with a steel rule die, or added individually with equipment available from CPI.

Skin board is available in many sizes and thicknesses with standard full sheet color or custom printed with your artwork.

There are 2 common styles of printed skin board. Individual cards, and scatter sheets. An individual card sheet is printed with card sizes and art specific to one product. A scatter sheet is usually a repeating logo at an angle across the board. The scatter is very helpful when multiple items, or sizes are involved. A label can be affixed to the board, before packing to identify the product.

Steel rule dies

The cutting die is one of the most important components of an efficient skin packaging operation.

After packing, a sheet of product is loaded face down into the cutting die. The product sits in cavities to protect it from crushing and the board is located in the proper position by spring loaded pins.

After a sheet of 1/2" plastic has been placed on top of the board to act as an anvil, the entire package is squeezed together by two motor driven rollers.

As the board is compressed into the knife, the sheet is cut into individual cards including hanghole, rounded corners, perforations etc

MacKenzie and Partners Inc. - Packing Films, Systems and Solutions