Application and Development of Tube Filling and Sealing Machine in the Cosmetics Industry
Tube filling and sealing machine are the first core packaging equipment in cosmetic tube packaging production lines. Located at the very beginning of the process—from ingredient dispensing to tube filling and sealing, boxing, and cartoning—they directly determine the consistency of filling volume, the strength of the tube seal, the accuracy of color mark alignment, and the cleanliness of the tube opening. They are upstream and downstream of the tube cartoning machine discussed earlier: the sealing machine produces "qualified single tubes," which the cartoning machine then fills.
I. Application Profile in the Cosmetics Industry
Categories Covered: Skin creams, facial cleansers, sunscreens, hand creams, hair dyes, eye creams/serum samples, lip care products, etc. They are used for products using PE/PET all-plastic tubes, aluminum-plastic composite tubes (ABL/PBL), multi-layer barrier tubes, and bio-based biodegradable tubes.
Process Flow: Automated tube loading (vacuum suction cup/robotic arm) → In-tube air washing (clean compressed air blowing and suction) → Photoelectric labeling and alignment (0°–360° servo tracking) → Quantitative filling (plunger/ceramic pump/screw pump) → Tube tail hot air sealing or ultrasonic sealing/tail folding → Cooling and shaping → Batch number printing → Online weighing + visual rejection.
Speed Range: 60–120 tubes/minute is the mainstream for general cosmetic fully automatic machines; high-end servo continuous models can reach 150–200 tubes/minute; single-head semi-automatic machines are only used for sampling/small batch customization.
Accuracy Requirements: For regular creams, ±0.5% or ±0.1g; for high-end serums and eye creams, micro-filling aims for ±0.05g / ±0.5%.
II. Unique Characteristics of the Cosmetics Scenarios Compared to Pharmaceuticals/Food
Vast Material Variation:From 5,000 cP thin emulsions to 200,000 cP high-viscosity pastes, exfoliating scrubs, and easily foaming amino acid cleansers, all require filling systems that are drip-proof, string-proof, and vacuum defoaming, with pumps that can be quickly disassembled and cleaned.
The End of the Tube is Key: In cosmetics, a misaligned seal, burn marks, wrinkles, or even a 1mm misalignment of the color mark at the tube end can result in customer complaints during live streams. Therefore, a precision of ≤0.15mm and a sealing strength of ≥12N/15mm have become the minimum acceptance criteria for mid-to-high-end machines.
High Changeover Frequency:New cosmetic products have short production cycles and many limited-edition models. With φ16–φ60mm tube diameters and round/flat/elliptical tubes produced on the same line, changeover times have decreased from 45 minutes in the past to 10–18 minutes for a qualified flexible filling machine.
High Changeover Frequency: Cosmetic products have short product cycles and many limited-edition models. Changeover times have decreased from 45 minutes to 10–18 minutes for a qualified flexible filling machine. Cleanliness ≠ Sterility, but close to it: Under the ISO 22716 / GMPC framework, material contact parts use 304/316L stainless steel with Ra≤0.4μm and no unsanitary corners; formulations containing active ingredients (VC, peptides) will undergo nitrogen replacement + low-oxygen filling to extend shelf life.
Green packaging materials are forcing equipment upgrades: Recycled PE pipes, paper-based composite pipes, and fully biodegradable flexible tubing have narrower heat-sealing temperature windows, which old-fashioned fixed-value hot air guns cannot handle, necessitating PID zone temperature control + cold pressing.
III. Current Technological Development Trends (2025–2026)
1. Cam Turret → Multi-Axis Servo: Three-axis/four-axis servo independently drives the turntable, alignment, filling, and sealing, with electronic cam synchronization, reducing energy consumption by approximately 25%, and supporting parameter adjustment without stopping the machine.
2. Machine vision replaces pure photoelectric: CCD marking + sealing defect detection (wrinkles/unsealed/overflow) achieves 99.9% accuracy and integrates with MES for batch traceability.
3. Online weighing closed-loop: Weighing feedback for each tube fine-tunes the plunger stroke, reducing the filling CV value to ≤1.2%, eliminating offline sampling inspection.
4. Ultrasonic sealing heating: Ultrasonic technology replaces hot air for PE/PET all-plastic tubing, resulting in a narrow sealing area, no scorch marks, and energy savings of 30%+, rapidly increasing penetration in skincare micro-pipelines.
5. Integrated production line becomes the norm for delivery: Filling and sealing + vision + coding + weighing and rejecting + cartoning + wrapping are sold as a single line, a "turnkey" solution favored by CMOs/OEM manufacturers.
IV. Market Size and Regions
The global market for tube filling and sealing machine is proj
ected to reach approximately US$1.07 billion in 2025 and US$1.5 billion in 2032 (CAGR ≈ 4.95%). The cosmetics and personal care end-users account for approximately 40% of demand, making it the largest downstream sector.
The specialized "cosmetic tube filling and sealing machine" segment is projected to reach approximately US$513 million in 2025 and US$762 million in 2032 (CAGR 5.9%).
The Asia-Pacific region (China + India + Southeast Asia OEM expansion) is expected to see the highest growth rate, with the Chinese cosmetic packaging equipment market projected to grow at a CAGR of approximately 8.7% from 2024 to 2030.
V. Selection Tips (Continuing from the previous discussion on cartoning machines)
Don't just look at "maximum 120 tubes/minute." Look at the actual cycle time with the flattest/shortest tube within the nominal diameter range. Many manufacturers use φ32 round tubes to indicate peak values.
High-viscosity materials must be sampled on-site: a drip-proof nozzle with a blow-off mechanism is required; otherwise, residual material at the nozzle will result in air bubbles at the sealing end and damage to the cartoning machine.
Changeover time will be specified in the contract: including disassembly and cleaning of the filling pump, replacement of the alignment fixture, and adjustment of the sealing mold; ≤15 minutes is considered the mid-to-high-end threshold.
The upstream sealing machine speed and the downstream cartoning machine speed should be buffered at a ratio of 1:1.05–1.1, with a temporary storage turntable in between to prevent minor stops of the sealing machine from affecting the cartoning machine.
If you would like to know the model of the filling and sealing machine, the type of filling pump, the sealing method, and the speed of the linked cartoning machine, please contact Wenzhou Lin'er Machinery Co., Ltd.
