Site Preparation for Fillers, VFFS, Flow Wrappers, Cartoners and Labelers: What the Sources Establish About Power, Air, Vacuum, Drainage and Floor Loading

Why there is no generic utility table to copy

You will not find a table here that says a filler needs one voltage and a cartoner another, because the sources do not carry per-family figures.

What they carry is a method: confirm every utility point against the equipment technical data sheet (TDS) before the machine arrives, and document the connection points on a floor plan¹⁸. The mistake this method prevents is treating a general figure as a machine specification.

A pressure band quoted for "many packaging machines" is a planning assumption, not a statement about your machine, and a machine that arrives against a mismatched supply stalls commissioning rather than starting production¹⁸. The same logic applies to the building side.

Floor load-bearing capacity and level tolerance are to be verified per the machine manufacturer's installation manual, not assumed from the machine family¹⁸. Footprint, ceiling height and utility access sit among the standard selection criteria for packaging equipment, which means they are settled during selection rather than discovered on delivery day¹⁴.

So the first deliverable of your project is not a specification you write — it is a data sheet you request and a floor plan you mark up. Everything in the sections below depends on that document arriving before the machine does.

Electrical data to extract from the supplier

The sources define what to ask for, not what the answer will be. Collect each item below from the machine technical data sheet and record it against the machine's position on your floor plan¹⁸.

• ✓Voltage, phase and frequency of the machine supply
• ✓Main breaker rating and the location of the local disconnect
• ✓Cable routing from your panel to the machine position
• ✓Whether the application demands supply stability tighter than your building currently delivers

Compressed air: pressure band, quality and the application test

For many packaging machines, compressed air is supplied at 6–8 bar (87–116 psi), dry and oil-free, with the expected flow taken from the machine data sheet¹⁸.

Treat that band as a starting assumption for sizing your air system, not as a specification for the machine you have ordered — the actual pressure and flow at the machine inlet are data-sheet items. Quality is where the application changes the answer.

Where compressed air contacts product in a pharmaceutical packaging context, the specification is oil-free air at below −40°C dewpoint, tested to ISO 8573-1 Class 1.2.1, with quarterly testing²¹.

That is a stricter quality class than the general dry, oil-free direction, and it is stated for a pharma utility-qualification context rather than for packaging machines generally²¹. Before you size dryers and filters, decide which case applies to your line: air that touches product, or air that only drives cylinders and actuators.

The sources set no mandatory air-quality class for non-pharma packaging, so that decision rests on your product and your supplier's data sheet¹⁸.

Water and drainage: a conditional need, not a fixed requirement

The only drainage trigger the sources establish is conditional: if the machine needs washdown or product cooling, you must ensure potable or non-potable water lines and adequate floor drains¹⁸. If neither applies, no source in this set requires a drain for the machine.

What the sources do not give you is the dimension. There is no drain connection size or height, no wastewater volume or type, and no bunding or grease-trap requirement stated for packaging machines¹⁸.

Regulatory text on which non-process waters are treated separately from process discharge exists, but it addresses discharge permitting categories rather than machine drainage design⁵. So the practical step is to establish the condition first — does your machine wash down or cool product?

— and then obtain the drain size, invert height and expected discharge volume from the supplier. Do not size a floor drain from the machine family.

Floor plan, clearances and the interface agreement

Footprint, ceiling height, utility access and infeed/outfeed clearance are core packaging equipment selection criteria, and integration with existing conveyors and line controls is evaluated alongside them^14,15. These are the items you can still change cheaply before delivery and only expensively afterwards.

Mark the utility connection points on a floor plan and show where panels, valves and quick-disconnects will sit, so service access is designed in rather than negotiated around a running machine¹⁸.

Suppliers are advised to define interface points and recovery steps before equipment enters an established production area, because those details shorten fault isolation once the machine is in routine service⁷.

That is a supplier-side recommendation rather than a measured outcome, but it points at the right contract clause: agree who supplies and who connects each service before the machine ships. The sources set no numeric clearance, ceiling-height, ambient temperature or humidity limits, and no division of supply-and-install responsibility between buyer and supplier^14,15,18.

Those belong in your RFQ as questions, not in your floor plan as assumptions.

Compliance and hygiene documentation to collect before sign-off

For food, pharmaceutical and nutraceutical applications, compliance documentation is part of the installation package rather than an afterthought. Request each item below with the machine and confirm it covers the services you are installing^25,27.

• ✓Food-grade or pharma-grade contact materials, including FDA/EU-compliant components
• ✓CE, UL or equivalent regional safety certification
• ✓Washdown-rated construction if your facility sanitises frequently
• ✓Documentation supporting HACCP or GMP compliance where applicable
• ✓Whether the supplier holds hygienic-design guidance you can apply to the installation

Where the two sources state different figures for the same utility

The compressed-air and electrical figures below come from different contexts — a general packaging-machine installation checklist and a pharmaceutical utility-qualification table. Read them as two positions rather than one averaged number, and confirm which context your line falls into.

What the sources do not establish

• No per-family electrical data (voltage, phase, frequency, kW/kVA, full-load current, neutral/earth) for fillers, VFFS, flow wrappers, cartoners or labelers.
• No vacuum requirement data (level, flow, integral pump versus central vacuum) for VFFS film pull-down, pick-and-place, label applicators or carton erectors.
• No floor-loading, footprint mass, anchor/bolt-down or floor flatness/levelness tolerance data.
• No drainage connection size or height, wastewater volume or type, bunding or grease-trap requirements.
• No numeric clearance, ceiling-height, ambient temperature or humidity limits, and no utility routing distances.
• No minimum air pressure at the machine inlet under peak demand, and no UPS, generator or air-receiver sizing guidance.
• No IP rating, local utility-code requirement, or accessible EHEDG/3-A technical content — EHEDG guidelines are member-restricted.
• No division of responsibility between buyer and supplier for supplying and installing services.