Automated Volumetric Filling System for 60 mL Single-Dose Sauce Packaging: Design and Experimental Validation

Food waste represents a significant environmental and economic challenge, partly due to inefficient portion management during preparation, storage, and consumption. One strategy to mitigate this issue is to use single-dose (monodose) packaging, which allows precise dosing and encourages complete consumption, thereby minimizing leftovers. This work presents the design, construction, and experimental validation of an automated machine engineered for single-dose packaging of low-viscosity sauces. The system is capable of filling, sealing, and cutting off a continuous plastic film to produce hermetically sealed 60 mL pouches. The system contains a deposit equipped with an ultrasonic level sensor, a pneumatic dispenser mechanism, a PI-based temperature controller for the sealing and cutting processes, and a Human–Machine Interface (HMI) for system configuration and process monitoring. The general controller was implemented using a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) and coordinated the stages of pouch filling, sealing, cutting, and counting. Experimental tests demonstrated stable and repeatable volumetric dosing. Mean dosing errors remained below ±1 mL for water and tomato-based sauce, whereas tomatillo-based and Chilean sauce exhibited higher deviations of +2.10 mL and +3.25 mL, respectively, reflecting the influence of viscosity and product heterogeneity. In addition, the system achieved hermetic sealing in more than 95% of samples and stable operation during continuous cycles. Additionally, the system showed thermal stability under PI control and high precision in the deposit level.