SAESA®600 reaches 600 tubes per minute for Ø28 mm toothpaste tubes
A new milestone in high-speed laminate tube production: Aisa’s SAESA®600 can now produce full-size Ø28 mm PBL toothpaste tubes at 600 tubes per minute, a world first.
The SAESA®600 was already Aisa’s fastest laminate tube production line. Today, it goes one step further by reaching its maximum production speed with Ø28 mm tubes, one of the most widely used formats for toothpaste packaging.
This achievement is the latest result of more than 20 years of continuous development. Since the launch of the first SAESA®500 in 2006, Aisa has progressively extended the technology to new diameters and materials. In 2015, the diameter range was extended down to Ø16 mm while reaching 600 tubes per minute with ABL. In 2021, the first PBL version followed, supporting the industry’s transition towards recyclable PBL laminate tubes.
The SAESA®600 laminate tube production line
Pushing the limits of high-speed PBL production
Reaching 600 tubes per minute with larger tube formats required Aisa engineers to address several technical challenges, including indexing larger diameters, welding PBL laminate at very high speed and feeding caps.
Major progress has now been achieved on all three fronts. Indexing speed has been validated for diameters up to Ø38 mm, PBL side seam welding has reached 100 metres per minute, and the required cap feeding speed has been achieved for selected cap types.
Speed with process control
At such production speeds, maintaining a stable process is essential. iQ-Seam Compression continuously measures laminate seam thickness in-line and automatically adjusts the welding process within predefined parameters, helping maintain consistent seam quality throughout production.
With this latest achievement, the SAESA®600 combines high output with PBL production and the formats required by today’s high-volume toothpaste market.
Making high-speed tube production smarter
And innovation continues. Beyond production speed, Aisa is advancing intelligent automation to make high-speed tube production easier to operate while ensuring consistent, continuously monitored quality.
Processing PBL laminates thinner than 250 microns at speeds of 100 meters per minute requires exceptional process control. With a new laminate reel consumed every few minutes, variations in material thickness are inevitable. Intelligent monitoring and automatic adjustment of welding parameters are therefore essential to maintain consistent side seam quality.
The next step is intelligent shoulder welding control. Already proven in industrial production, Aisa’s Q-Seam Shoulder quality inspection system is also available for the SAESA®600. By monitoring the welding heat applied to every tube, it provides operators with real-time quality insights. Aisa Intelligence analyses this data to assess welding conditions and support process optimisation, reducing reliance on destructive testing alone.
Preparing for the next generation of sustainable tubes
As the industry moves towards thinner PBL laminates incorporating post-consumer recycled (PCR) materials, particularly in response to the EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), maintaining consistent production quality will become increasingly demanding.
Beyond weld integrity, controlling tube ovality will also be critical to ensure reliable handling and efficient processing on automated, robotic tube-filling lines.
Looking ahead, Aisa considers intelligent, self-adjusting quality control essential to the future of high-speed tube manufacturing.