Syntegon has detailed a range of automated packaging systems designed to give cookie and cracker manufacturers greater flexibility while reducing product breakage at higher production speeds.
Published on 31 August 2026, the company’s latest portfolio overview covers six configurations for handling and packaging cookies, crackers and biscuits, including equipment for product counting, feeding, flow wrapping, cartoning and case packing. The systems support both on-edge and flat pack formats and are aimed at manufacturers seeking to automate more of the packaging process while accommodating a wider variety of products and pack styles.
For snack producers, the developments address several familiar production pressures, including labour availability, changing retail formats, limited factory space and the need to handle increasingly fragile products without creating additional waste.
High-speed handling
At the centre of one configuration is Syntegon’s count feeder, which groups round products into the required count before loading them into trays or directly into a flow-wrapper infeed. The unit can handle up to 3,600 cookies per minute, while the associated flow-wrapping system can operate at up to 350 packs per minute.
For different shapes of cookies and crackers, Syntegon also offers a measuring-loader configuration incorporating vibratory channels. This system can achieve up to 400 slug packs per minute and allows operators to switch between long and short slug formats in less than ten minutes. Amplified Heat Sealing technology can also be specified for mono-material packaging.
Other configurations use linear motor technology to enable products to be packed either flat or on-edge on the same system. One version can receive up to 1,600 products per minute on flat conveyor belts, while a linear motor pick-and-place system can accept up to 1,500 randomly positioned products per minute.
Flexibility for snack producers
Gentle product handling is particularly important for thin crackers, filled products and other brittle snacks, where damage during feeding and wrapping can directly affect yield and finished pack quality. Syntegon says smooth linear-motor movements and controlled product transfers are intended to minimise this risk while maintaining production speed.
The ability to combine handling, flow wrapping, cartoning and case packing also gives manufacturers the option of developing a more extensively automated line rather than integrating individual machines from separate stages.
For snack manufacturers managing multiple SKUs, the ability to change product orientation and pack format on the same equipment could also help reduce the amount of dedicated machinery required, while faster format changes can support shorter production runs and a broader product mix
