Load Lip Pouch

What is a load lip?

A load lip is a short section of material on one side of a pouch that extends beyond the open end of the bag. In other words, one side of the pouch is longer than the other side. This load lip makes it easier to manually open the pouch and insert product. It improves efficiency by allowing for faster loading, and is usually seen on tamper evident pouches. If you're an experienced process engineer or production supervisor who has had to ramp up production manually loading physical product into foil barrier pouches, you are likely familiar with load lips.

Many pouches have no load lip specified, wherein both sides of the pouch are even at the open end within a degree of tolerance. This is often a default because a load lip can give the appearance of missing film on the open end of the pouch.

The other alternative to a load lip is a flush cut, where both sides of the pouch are specifically cut to match lengths exactly at the opening. The flush cut is preferred for applications involving automation, where precision is key to keeping packaging machinery functioning optimally. If you don't see "flush cut" in the item description, it is not guaranteed - it must be specified.

It's also worth noting that many load lip pouches also feature tear notches. If a load lip pouch fits your needs, we recommend that you also consider whether a tear notch is appropriate, either near the open end (often considered the top) or the sealed end (often considered the bottom) of the pouch. For example, having a tear notch on the bottom or sealed end of the pouch is usually safer for paper-based diagnostic kits to prevent damage in opening. IMPAK can and has produced both styles, and one version or the other may better suit your production or aesthetic considerations.