Industrial sourcing · China to Europe

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Buyer guide · Packaging

VFFS packaging machine from China

Every quote gives a speed in bags per minute, but nobody tells you which bag size or product it was measured on, and the real question is whether the seals hold on your film at your speed.

Ask about this machine ↗Where the numbers come from

Written and listings checked 30 September 2026. Every figure on this page names its source.

What you are actually comparing.

Two quotes, one machine name

What hides inside the price

The filler on top of the bagger

A VFFS machine (vertical form, fill and seal) makes the bag from a roll of film. A separate filler doses the product: an auger for powder, a cup filler for free-flowing granules, a multihead weigher for snacks, a pump for liquids. Ask whether the filler is inside the price.

Maximum film width

The number in most model codes is the widest film the forming tube accepts. It fixes the largest bag the machine can ever make.

Seal jaws and temperature control

Ask how many heating zones the jaws have, which temperature controller is fitted, and the jaw pattern. Thick barrier laminates need more heat or longer dwell. Jaws with one heating zone often leak at the corners.

Servo or pneumatic jaw motion

Pneumatic jaws cost less and are simple to repair. Servo jaws let you set dwell time and pressure on the screen and keep them when speed changes. Ask which axes are servo.

Forming tubes and changeover

Each bag width needs its own forming tube and collar. Ask how many are included, the price of an extra one, and the changeover time.

Bag styles the frame supports

Pillow bags are standard. Gusset and block-bottom bags, zips, tear notches and hang holes need extra stations. Check each feature is on the drawing.

Controller and program access

Ask for the PLC and HMI brand, installed screen languages, and a program backup. Without it, every fault needs the factory.

Decode the model code.

In most VFFS model codes the number is the maximum film width in millimetres. The film wraps around the forming tube, so the flat bag is about half the film width, less a strip for the back seal.

320 mm film / 2 = 160 mm; listed maximum bag width 150 mm.
520 mm film / 2 = 260 mm; listed maximum bag width 250 mm.
720 mm film / 2 = 360 mm; listed maximum bag width 350 mm.
So maximum bag width is about (film width / 2) minus 10 mm. A 250 mm bag needs at least a 520 frame, with no margin.

Before you ask for a price.

Send these with the enquiry. Without them, any number a factory gives you is a guess dressed as a quotation.

Your product: powder, granule, frozen pieces, liquid or paste, with bulk density, and whether it flows, cakes or makes dust.
Fill weight per bag and the accuracy you need, in grams either side of target.
Bag style, flat width and length, and every feature: gusset, zip, tear notch, hang hole, nitrogen flush, date coding.
Your film structure and thickness, with a sample roll. Paper, recyclable mono-material film and aluminium laminates each seal differently.
Target speed on your largest bag, not your smallest.
Compressed air available at the machine, and the ceiling height for the filler above the bagger.
What feeds and follows the machine: elevator, checkweigher, metal detector. Say which belong in the quote.

Turn the claim into a demonstration.

Require this	A pass looks like
Run your product and film at target speed on your largest bag, for a counted run agreed in advance, filmed without cuts.	The machine holds target speed for the whole run, and rejected bags stay under the count agreed in writing before the test.
Leak-test and seal-strength-test a sample from that run, on the back seal and both cross seals.	No leaking bags, no product trapped in the cross seal, and seal strength at or above your film supplier's stated minimum.
Weigh every bag in the sample, then do one timed width change from smallest to largest bag.	All weights inside your tolerance on a signed sheet. The width change finishes in the time written in the quotation.

The documents that must arrive with it.

EU Declaration of Conformity naming the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC, or the Machinery Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 for delivery from 20 January 2027, plus 2014/35/EU and 2014/30/EU.
The risk assessment and the list of standards applied. Ask whether EN 415-3, the safety standard for form, fill and seal machines, was used.
Manual in the language of the country of use, with pneumatic and electrical diagrams.
Declaration of compliance with Regulation (EC) 1935/2004 for every food-contact part, with material certificates.
Parts list with forming tube, jaw and heater part numbers, and a PLC program backup.

The one people forget. The food-contact declaration for the forming tube, filler and hopper. Buyers check the CE papers and forget it. A food-safety auditor asks for it first.

When this is the wrong machine.

Buy something else if

Named, not hedged

Your pouch is a branded stand-up pack with a zip or spout, and its print quality sells the product.

A premade pouch packing machine. It fills pouches made by a converter, so the pouch finish does not depend on your machine.

You pack single solid items, such as bars or biscuits, that must lie flat.

A horizontal flow wrapping machine. A vertical machine drops product down a tube, and flat items twist or break.

Where the numbers come from.

We name the kind of source, how many and when, and never the factory. Listed prices are asking prices, not landed cost. Where we do not hold a fact we say so: that is a GAP, not an estimate.

Listings · 11Eleven marketplace listings for VFFS packaging machines, checked September 2026, advertised FOB asking prices from US$3,358 to US$33,000. The top of the range had a weighing filler. These are asking prices, not landed cost, and most did not say whether the filler was included.
Listings · 2Two manufacturer specification tables, checked September 2026, listed frames from 320 mm to 1,020 mm maximum film width. In both, rated speed fell as film width rose: in one, from up to 70 bags per minute at 320 mm to up to 40 at 720 mm.
ArithmeticIn one of those tables, 320, 520 and 720 mm film widths list maximum bag widths of 150, 250 and 350 mm: each is film width / 2 minus 10 mm.
Listings · 1One manufacturer table of 26 VFFS models, checked September 2026, stated compressed-air use from 0.15 to 0.8 cubic metres per minute.
GAPGAP - no supplier quotations logged for this machine yet. Three to five quotations for one configuration, for example a 520 mm frame with an auger filler, would give a real price spread.

Related machines.

Premade pouch packing machine. Choose the premade pouch packing machine when a branded stand-up pouch made by a converter matters more than speed.
Flow wrapping machine. Choose the flow wrapping machine when you pack single solid items that must lie flat, which a vertical tube would twist.

Every machine we source in this area is on the Packaging page. How a project runs, stage by stage, is on how it works, and what it costs is on pricing.

Straight answers

Questions buyers ask about this machine.

What is the best VFFS packaging machine from China?+

The one that passes a sealing and weighing test on your product and film. Choose the frame by film width using the arithmetic above, then the filler by product type.

Chinese vs European VFFS packaging machine: what is the difference?+

The forming principle is the same. The differences are jaw temperature control, servo axes, controller and service. With a Chinese machine, plan for remote support and keep spare tubes and heaters on site. A used European machine can be the better buy if your bag fits its frame.

What goes on a VFFS packaging machine inspection checklist?+

The counted run on your largest bag, leak and seal-strength tests, the weight sample and a timed width change. Then check every contracted forming tube is in the crate, the jaw heater and controller brands match the quote, and guards and emergency stops work.

What CE documentation does a VFFS packaging machine need?+

An EU Declaration of Conformity naming your model and serial number, the technical file behind it, and a manual in your language. A CE mark on a brochure proves nothing. Ask for the declaration before any deposit.

Who is the EU importer of a VFFS packaging machine?+

Buying directly from outside the EU normally makes you the importer. Your name and address go on the machine or its documents, and you check the conformity documents exist and match it. Delivery after 19 January 2027 means Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 applies.

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