# Custom Parts Manufacturing for Packaging & Printing Machinery

> A format changeover is a machining order with a production line waiting on it.

- HTML page: https://fabvector.com/industries/packaging-machinery (Portuguese: https://fabvector.com/pt/industries/packaging-machinery)

## Sourcing pain points we solve

Packaging lines generate the most awkward machining demand there is: a new bottle shape means a whole format set — star wheels, guides, grippers, nozzles — in quantities of one to a dozen, needed before the product launch date that marketing already announced. The parts are geometrically fussy rather than tight: profiles derived from a container CAD model, contact surfaces that must not scuff a label, and edges that have to be genuinely deburred because they touch product. Wash-down changes the material rules — 316L and Delrin instead of whatever is cheapest — and any food-contact part drags in FDA or EC 1935/2004 material documentation the machinist has to obtain rather than assert. Meanwhile the line is down, so a two-week quote turnaround is itself the problem.

## Typical parts

- Star wheels, infeed screws and format change parts
- Filling nozzles, valve blocks and product-contact fittings
- Conveyor guides, wear strips and gripper jaws
- Cam followers, levers and drive brackets
- Print cylinder end fittings and register adjusters

## Recommended materials

- [stainless-steel-304](https://fabvector.com/md/materials/stainless-steel-304)
- [stainless-steel-316l](https://fabvector.com/md/materials/stainless-steel-316l)
- [pom-delrin](https://fabvector.com/md/materials/pom-delrin)
- [nylon-pa6](https://fabvector.com/md/materials/nylon-pa6)
- [aluminum-6061](https://fabvector.com/md/materials/aluminum-6061)
- [hdpe](https://fabvector.com/md/materials/hdpe)

## Recommended finishes

- [passivation](https://fabvector.com/md/finishes/passivation)
- [electropolishing](https://fabvector.com/md/finishes/electropolishing)
- [bead-blasting](https://fabvector.com/md/finishes/bead-blasting)
- [laser-marking](https://fabvector.com/md/finishes/laser-marking)
- [as-machined](https://fabvector.com/md/finishes/as-machined)

## Certifications & standards

- **EC 1935/2004 / FDA CFR 21**: Food-contact compliance is a property of the material you specify, not of machining. We source to your approved grade and pass through the supplier declaration rather than issuing one ourselves.
- **ISO 9001**: We understand line builders expect ISO 9001-grade repeatability on format parts — the second set has to drop in exactly like the first, years later.
- **EN 10204 3.1**: We support EN 10204 3.1 certificates on 316L wash-down and product-contact components where the alloy is what the hygiene case rests on.

_We understand and support these requirements; certification and documentation scope is confirmed per order — we do not claim to hold certifications on this page._

## Buyer questions, answered

### A new bottle format needs star wheels and guides before launch — typical turnaround?

From container CAD to a machined format set — star wheels, infeed screws, guides, grippers in Delrin, PA6 or 316L — figure 5–10 days for quantities of one to a dozen per geometry. The profile derives from the bottle model, so send the container CAD with the RFQ and skip a round trip.

### What materials survive washdown on food and beverage lines?

316L passivated for wetted metal, 304 where chemistry is milder, Delrin and HDPE for change parts that touch product dry. Plain carbon steel and 6061 without coating corrode into inspection findings within months in a caustic-wash environment.

### The second format set is ordered two years later — will it match the first?

It will if the supplier kept the drawing, program and inspection record from set one — which we do as standard, because repeat format sets are the normal life of a packaging line. The second set is machined to the same revision and inspected against the same report format, so it drops in.