A Guide To FIBC Terminologies That You As A Consumer Must Know!
A flexible intermediate bulk container (FIBC), or sometimes referred to as jumbo, bulk bag, super sack, or big bag, is a bag that is used by a multitude of industries for storing and transporting dry content or flowable products. These are made from a thick, woven polypropylene that comes with a UV treated finish and extensively used to store products like sand, fertilizer, dry pet food, and granules of plastic.
There has been a significant increase in the demand of FIBC bags with the growing requirements to reduce the overall weight of the bulk packaging and transporting materials.
If your work repeatedly requires you to interact with the FIBC market, then it can be helpful for you to learn a bit more about this world. And, so, for a well-informed purchase, know about the FIBC related terminologies mentioned below –
- Baffle:
A baffle is an extra fabric panel or piece of string sewn into each of the 4 corners of a four-panel or tubular-shaped bag. This added strength allows the bag to hold its square shape better when filled, and also increase the stability of the load. It also helps in maximizing space.
- Bag Height:
The height dimension of an FIBC bag measured from the top seam to the bottom seam is the bag height.
- Belt Patch:
Belt patch is a piece of fabric that is sewn either amidst the bag body’s main fabric and the Lift Belt or on top of the Lift Belt, within the belt sewn portion. It is used to enhance the safe working load (SWL).
- Bias Strap Or Tape:
Also known as web tie or tie strap, these are made of multifilament yarns or polypropylene and are used to tie inlet and outlet spouts.
- Coated And Uncoated Fabric:
Fabric or bags which are coated/laminated with a protective polypropylene layer that reduces moisture intrusion or sifting of the product inside, are called coated fabric bulk bags or non-breathable or laminated fabric bags.
The other one is called breathable or uncoated fabric bulk bags; these bags don’t have the polypropylene layer laminated on them.
- Denier:
It is a unit of measurement that expresses fibre thickness of individual threads used in a fabric. To be more specific, it is the weight of the yarn in grams per 9,000 meters. Also, it is considered that the higher the denier count, the more durable the fabric will be.
- Discharge Spout:
As the name indicates, the discharge spout or the bottom spout is used as an outlet to empty the products filled in the FIBC bulk bag.
- Document Pouch:
Designed or fabricated by polypropylene, it is a pouch where shipping or identifying documents are usually stored. It is also known as an envelope or pocket.
- Circular Woven Bag:
Also referred to as a tubular bag because of the unique tube-like shape, the circular woven bags are shaped and woven on a circular loom before cutting to the properly specified bag height. This bag has no corner seams or angular edges.
- Duffle Top:
A type of FIBC bag top which is similar to the duffel bag. The inlet extends from the top seam, and it can be tied from the top. It is also known as the skirt top.
- Loop Height:
It is the height or the measurement from the top of a bag to the loop’s apex when laid flat.
- Polypropylene:
It is a type of polymer made from the combination of propylene monomers. It is used in a variety of applications such as packaging bags for products, plastic parts, automotive industry, textile industry, etc. It is environment friendly and can be recycled.
- Safe Working Load:
SWL is the safe amount of load which a bag is designed to carry. You must always check with the SWL factor to avoid worst situations like damage to the bag and the product sifting.
- Safety Factor:
It is normally written in ratio like 5:1 SF, and it signifies how much stronger a bag is than it needs to be for an intended load. The 5:1 indicates that it should be 5 times the Safe Working Load.
- Food Grade:
The conditions under which the bulk bag has been manufactured and stored before being delivered to the end customer is all about food grade. These conditions have to be strict and quality-driven to produce bulk bags that are suitable for use. Under this comes –
- Cleanroom for manufacturing as well as the storage facility.
- BRC compliant food grade bulk bags are the bags manufactured and stored in strict conditions to meet the BRC standards.
This ensures that the bulk bags are suitable for storing products without any contamination.
- Velcro:
Velcro are straps used for proper closing of the bags. These are strong, lightweight, easy-to-adjust, and secures the content inside the bag. It is used for the fastening purpose.
- Dustproof:
The transportation of finer materials through regular FIBC bags has a possibility of leakage and to prevent this; dustproof FIBC bags are the best. There are different types of dustproof bags according to the requirements like –
- Single dustproof – These FIBC bags have single stitches and a single dustproof tape.
- Double dustproof – Products which have high chances of sieving or leaking are kept inside this bag as it has two stitches and two dustproof tapes.
- Triple dustproof – For extra safety of products, these FIBC bags have three sealing strips. This type involves sealing with two dustproof tapes and a third tape is put between the fabric.
- Tunnel bag:
These are popular bags that have a unique design of Tunnel lift bags that has 4 standard loops and 2 side tunnels. This helps in reducing the labour cost as it can be easily picked up.
- Two-panel bag:
These FIBC bulk bag are constructed with three body panels; one of them runs the full length of the bag forming the bottom and the other two sides and two fabric pieces sewn into the larger piece to form the other two sides. These bags have a square shape when filled, plus they offer high SWL and amazing durability because of the sturdy construction.
- Iris closure:
The iris closure can be on the top and bottom; that is, for discharge and filling. For the bottom, these are a safety valve that is ideally suited for choking the necks and also it gives the control to maintain the flow of material. And for the top, these are used for additional protection after filling.
- Petal closure:
This spout construction showcases four-petal like structure that works together to hold the spout closed when it is not in use.
