Horizontal Form Fill Seal Machines
SN horizontal form fill seal (HFFS) machines form, fill and seal flat, stand-up and spout pouches from rollstock at up to 450 a minute. Specs and quotes.
Horizontal form fill seal (HFFS) machines make pouches from a roll of film, then fill and seal them in the same machine. SN's range runs one to five pouches per cycle, at up to 450 pouches a minute.
- 1 to 5 pouches made per cycle
- 450 pouches a minute, top speed
- 4 SN machine series
What a horizontal form fill seal machine does
A horizontal form fill seal machine makes the pouch and packs it in one pass. Film runs off a roll and travels horizontally through the forming section, where it is folded, sealed and cut into pouches. Each pouch then moves through stations that open it, fill it and seal the top.
Product goes into an open pouch from above instead of dropping down a long forming tube, which is why HFFS handles liquids, pastes, fragile products and stand-up pouch shapes well. Our VFFS vs HFFS guide covers where each approach fits.
The four SN series
SN's German-engineered horizontal form fill seal machines come in four series.
Economic Series
Up to 115 a minute. The compact entry point. The FME 50 makes flat and stand-up pouches for dry products and creams.
Professional Series
Up to 450 a minute. The core range on an eight-station rotary table, from the FMP 80 to the five-lane FM 500.
Hygienic Series
Up to 360 a minute. The same process on a stainless steel washdown frame, for cheese and dairy, pet food and pharma.
Spout Series
Up to 240 a minute. Forms the pouch from the roll, fits a center or corner spout and fills it.
One to five pouches per cycle
Speed comes mainly from how many pouches the machine makes per cycle: one on a simplex, two on a duplex, and three, four or five on SN's triplex, quadruplex and pentaplex models. Each extra lane adds output but narrows the widest pouch the machine can run.
- Triplex FBM 30: pouches 50 to 93 mm wide, up to 300 a minute
- Quadruplex FBM 40: pouches 40 to 72 mm wide, up to 400 a minute
- Pentaplex FM 500: pouches 70 to 110 mm wide, up to 450 a minute
- FM 060 and FBM 22: some of SN's widest pouch formats, in simplex or duplex
Pouch styles, products and options
SN machines fill powders, granules, liquids, pastes and solids, with the filling system chosen for the product. The Economic Series can also run recyclable film and paper.
- 3-side and 4-side seal pouches
- Stand-up pouches (doypacks)
- Bottom-fold, double flat and membrane pouches
- Spouted pouches on the Spout Series
- Zippers and other reclosure systems
- Nitrogen flushing, ultrasonic sealing and washdown builds
HFFS, premade pouches or VFFS?
The right machine depends on your pack, your products and how often you change over. Our HFFS vs premade guide walks through the cost math.
Horizontal form fill seal
Lower cost per pouch. Buys film by the roll instead of finished pouches. Best for long runs of a few SKUs.
Premade pouch
Most flexible. Fills pouches you buy in. Best for many SKUs, short runs and complex pouch shapes.
Vertical form fill seal
Simplest for bags. Forms pillow and gusseted bags around a tube. Best for free-flowing products.
Sales, parts and service in North America
PPi Technologies Group sells and services SN machines across North America from Sarasota, Florida, where spare parts are stocked. Tell us your product, pouch size and target speed, and we'll recommend a model and send a quote.
Common questions
What's the difference between HFFS and VFFS?
An HFFS machine forms the pouch horizontally and fills it from above, which suits stand-up and spout pouches, liquids and fragile products. A VFFS machine forms a bag around a vertical tube and drops the product in, which is simpler and faster for pillow and gusseted bags of free-flowing products.
How fast is a horizontal form fill seal machine?
SN models run from about 100 pouches a minute on a simplex FMP 80 to 450 a minute on the five-lane FM 500. The right model depends on your pouch size, because more lanes mean narrower pouches.
Can an HFFS machine pack liquids?
Yes. SN machines fill powders, granules, liquids, pastes and solids, and the Spout Series fits a spout to each pouch and fills through it.
Featured machines
- SN FMP 80 — Horizontal form, fill, and seal machine (HFFS) — intermittent rotary with 8 stations, inno
- SN FM 500 — The fastest SN Professional Series machine — a pentaplex HFFS rotary making five pouches 7
- SN FBM 40 — Quadruplex HFFS rotary machine for small pouches 40–72 mm wide and 70–160 mm long, making
- SN FMH 80 — Flexible and customizable HFFS rotary machine in hygienic design with simplex and duplex o
- SN LMS 120 — Simplex or duplex spout-pouch machine that forms flat or stand-up pouches from the roll, f
- SN FME 50 — Simple, compact & economical – Horizontal form, fill, and seal machine (HFFS) of the Econo