Automatic Liquid Detergent Production Line

The automatic liquid detergent production line is a highly mature and standardized set of industrial equipment, which is completely different from the non-standard fields you inquired about earlier, such as baobab powder and EPDM rubber powder. This field has achieved full-process unmanned operation from raw material emulsification, filling and sealing to intelligent warehousing. The benchmark production line of domestic leading enterprises (such as Liby Daily Chemical) only needs 5 workers per shift, with a daily output of more than 4,000 pieces, and is deeply integrated with the MES manufacturing execution system. This production line is not a single piece of equipment, but the organic integration of three major subsystems. Below, based on the latest benchmark projects put into production in 2024-2025 and the technical specifications of mainstream equipment manufacturers, I will fully disassemble it for you, with detailed explanations of each link and natural integration of relevant equipment and raw material terms.

Production Line Overview: Seamless Coordination of Three Major Subsystems

A complete automatic liquid detergent production line consists of the front-end batching and emulsification system, the middle-end filling and packaging system, and the back-end information control system. The front-end determines quality, the middle-end determines efficiency, and the back-end determines the level of intelligence. Unlike production lines that process raw materials such as Seasam, Peanut, wheat, corn, coffee, rice, bean, mushroom, bone, seeds, meat, tea, flour, spice, tobacco, salt, sugar, metal, chemical, Medicine, etc., or rely on grinding equipment such as grinding machine, herb grinder, Industrial Weed Grinder, small grinder machine, cryogenic grinding machine, Dry Fruit Powder Grinder Machine, the automatic liquid detergent production line focuses on liquid mixing, emulsification and filling, with higher requirements on equipment sealing, corrosion resistance and automation coordination.

The front-end batching and emulsification system is mainly responsible for raw material mixing, homogenization and aging, with PLC full automation and one-key formula calling. Its key equipment includes vacuum homogenizing emulsifier, wall-scraping mixer and high-speed disperser, with mainstream suppliers such as Guangdong Ligong (Alibaba) and Guangzhou Huizhan (Machinio). Most of these key equipment are made of high-quality stainless steel, which is corrosion-resistant and easy to clean, meeting the hygiene standards of daily chemical production. At the same time, important equipment such as high-speed dispersers are equipped with stable chargers to ensure continuous and stable operation, and some export-oriented production lines are equipped with CE Certificate grinders and emulsifiers to meet international standards.

The middle-end filling and packaging system is responsible for bottle conveying, quantitative filling, capping/pressing, labeling and cartoning, with single-machine full automation and section linkage. Its key equipment includes servo tracking filling machine, spider-hand capping and screwing integrated machine, and fully automatic cartoning machine, with benchmark cases and suppliers such as Maanshan Liby, Guangzhou Baoneng and Foshan Land. The back-end information control system is responsible for production scheduling, quality traceability and equipment early warning, adopting MES + PLC industrial Internet. Its key equipment includes central control cabinet, LED display screen and real-time analysis system, with a benchmark case of Maanshan Liby (MES system).

The core cognition is that the “full automation” of the liquid detergent production line refers not only to single-machine automation, but more importantly, the data connection of the three major systems—from raw material warehousing to finished product delivery, the end-to-end data chain and value chain are seamlessly linked. This is fundamentally different from the production lines of baobab powder and EPDM rubber powder, which only realize single-machine automation and lack systematic integration. Unlike equipment such as cassava grinding machine, dry ginger grinding machine, licorice grinding machine, black pepper grinder, which are mainly used for processing solid materials, the equipment of the liquid detergent production line is mainly designed for liquid processing, with higher requirements on sealing performance.

Front-End Batching and Emulsification System: The Starting Point of Quality

At this stage, surfactants, additives, flavors, deionized water and other raw materials are accurately mixed according to the formula to form a uniform and stable liquid product. This system is the core of determining the quality of liquid detergent, and its equipment configuration and technical level directly affect the product’s stability, viscosity and cleaning effect. Unlike the grinding equipment used in powder processing, such as Air cooled crusher, coarse crusher, Hammer Mill, Ultrafine Grinder, vibrating pulverizer, turbo grinder, high speed Dry Grinder, cutting type grinder, the equipment of this system is mainly used for mixing and emulsifying liquid raw materials, with no need for crushing links.

The core equipment configuration includes five types of equipment. The first is the vacuum homogenizing emulsifier, which is the main reaction vessel, performing high-speed shearing and emulsification under vacuum conditions. Its key technical parameters are optional capacity of 50-20000L, and homogenizer speed of 0-3600rpm. Its automation features include PLC control of vacuum degree, temperature and homogenization time, and formula storage. Most of these emulsifiers are made of stainless steel, which is corrosion-resistant and easy to clean, meeting the requirements of daily chemical production. The second is the wall-scraping mixer, which performs slow stirring to prevent wall hanging and improve heat transfer efficiency, with a frequency-convertible adjustable speed of 0-65rpm. Its automation feature is time-series interlocking with the homogenizer, realizing automatic start and stop.

The third is the high-speed disperser, which is used for pre-dispersing insoluble raw materials (such as AES and AESA) with a linear speed of 15-25m/s. Its automation feature is automatically adjusting the dispersion intensity under low temperature conditions to reduce flocculent substances. This equipment is equipped with a stable charger to ensure continuous operation, and some large-scale models can be matched with 500KG Grinder-level power supply to meet the needs of large-scale production. The fourth is the water treatment system, which is used for preparing deionized water/pure water with a conductivity of ≤10μS/cm. Its automation feature is interlocking with the main control system, realizing automatic metering of water volume. The fifth is the metering and batching system, which is used for accurate feeding of liquid/powder raw materials with a metering accuracy of ≤±0.5%. Its automation features include weight-loss metering, automatic material supplement and formula calling.

The key technological breakthrough is that for insoluble raw materials such as AES, AESA and LSA, modern emulsifiers adopt low-temperature high-shear dissolution technology, which can quickly disperse at room temperature without heating, significantly saving energy and shortening the production cycle. This technology solves the problem of long dissolution time of insoluble raw materials in traditional production, and improves production efficiency. Unlike the powder processing that needs to use Dust Grinder, dust collector grinder, Vacuum Mill to collect dust, the liquid batching and emulsification system has no dust pollution, but needs to pay attention to the sealing of equipment to prevent liquid leakage.

In terms of production capacity and investment reference, it can be divided into three scales. The first is laboratory/pilot scale, with a single tank volume of 50-200L, suitable for formula research and development and small-batch customization, with an investment reference of 50,000-150,000 yuan (RMB). The second is small and medium-sized production scale, with a single tank volume of 500-3000L, suitable for regional brands and OEM factories, with an investment reference of 150,000-500,000 yuan (RMB). The third is industrial-grade production scale, with a single tank volume of 5000-20000L, suitable for leading enterprises such as Liby and Nice, with an investment reference of 800,000-2,000,000 yuan (RMB) per tank. The data comes from the public quotations of equipment manufacturers on Alibaba International Station and Machinio platform. For small and medium-sized enterprises, 200KG grinder-level small emulsifiers can be selected to reduce investment costs.

Middle-End Filling and Packaging System: The Core of Efficiency

This is the section with the largest number of equipment types and the most mature automation level in the liquid detergent production line, and it is also the key to Liby Daily Chemical’s “only 5 workers needed to produce 4,000 pieces per day”. This system connects the front-end emulsified semi-finished products with the back-end finished products, and its efficiency directly determines the daily output of the entire production line. Unlike the production lines that process solid materials such as cannabis, seeds, and bone, which need to use grinding equipment such as Electric Grinder and universal grinder, this system focuses on the filling and packaging of liquid products, with higher requirements on the accuracy and speed of filling.

The complete equipment flow of the filling line is carried out in 8 processes in sequence. The first process is bottle supply, using an automatic bottle unscrambler/air bottle washing machine to realize the transformation from messy empty bottles to directional arrangement to clean blowing, with a processing capacity of ≥100 bottles per minute. Its automation level is interlocking with the filling machine, with no bottle no supply. The second process is filling, using a servo tracking filling machine to perform synchronous tracking filling while the bottles are moving, without stopping the bottles, with a filling accuracy of ≤±1% and a speed of 40-50 bottles per minute (double heads). Its automation level is PLC control, with no bottle no filling, and one-key cleaning formula storage.

The third process is sealing, using a spider-hand capping and screwing integrated machine to automatically take, pre-screw and tighten the cap with fixed torque. This is the core node of cost reduction and efficiency increase of Liby’s benchmark equipment. Its automation level is visual positioning and torque closed-loop control. The fourth process is sealing, using an electromagnetic induction aluminum foil sealer to perform non-contact heating and hot-melt sealing of aluminum foil, with a sealing qualification rate of ≥99.5%. Its automation level is automatic power tracking speed. The fifth process is marking, using an automatic inkjet printer/labeling machine to print production date and batch number, and paste double-sided self-adhesive labels, with a labeling accuracy of ±1mm. Its automation level is communication with the filling machine, with automatic association of batch numbers.

The sixth process is accumulation, using an automatic carton unpacking machine + cartoning machine to unpack cardboard and stack products into boxes, with an unpacking speed of 8-12 boxes per minute. Its automation level is servo drive, with quick specification switching. The seventh process is palletizing, using a robot palletizing system to grab entire boxes and stack them on pallets, with a load of 50-200kg. Its automation level is a six-axis industrial robot, dispatched by MES. The eighth process is strapping, using an automatic strapping machine to strap and fix the entire pallet, with adjustable strapping force. Its automation level is automatic conveying, with no manual intervention. Some large-scale production lines also use large packaging equipment to match the production capacity, and the key equipment is still made of stainless steel to ensure stability.

The key equipment is deeply analyzed in two aspects. The first is the servo tracking filling machine—the balancer of filling accuracy and speed. Its principle is that the filling nozzle moves synchronously with the bottles, completing filling while the bottles are moving, without stopping the bottles, which greatly improves the line speed. Its filling range is 10-1000ml customizable, suitable for different viscosities such as laundry detergent, dishwashing liquid and hand sanitizer. Its cleaning design is a quick-connect design of the metering cylinder and the filling head, realizing one-key cleaning and completing the changeover cleaning within 10 minutes. Its flexible capability is that the data of different bottle types (round/square/special-shaped) are pre-stored, and the formula can be called when changing, without mechanical adjustment. This equipment is equipped with a stable charger to ensure continuous operation, and some high-end models are equipped with CE Certificate grinders to meet international standards.

The second is the spider-hand capping and screwing integrated machine—the cost reduction tool of Liby’s benchmark production line. Its function integration is to combine the three traditional stations of “cap sorting + cap feeding + cap screwing” into one equipment. Its benefit data is that after Maanshan Liby put it into use, the liquid detergent workshop only needs 5 workers to achieve a daily output of 4,000 pieces, and the production efficiency is increased by 30%. Its technical feature is the adoption of a multi-axis parallel robot structure, which realizes flexible grabbing and has a high error tolerance rate for the direction of the bottle cap. In terms of production capacity and investment benchmark of the filling line, it is divided according to the number of filling heads. For 2-4 heads, the typical speed is 1000-3000 bottles per hour, suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises, with an equipment investment reference of 80,000-150,000 yuan (RMB). For 6-8 heads, the typical speed is 4000-8000 bottles per hour, suitable for regional leaders, with an equipment investment reference of 200,000-400,000 yuan (RMB). For 10-12 heads, the typical speed is 10000-15000 bottles per hour, suitable for leading enterprises, with an equipment investment reference of 500,000-1,000,000 yuan (RMB). The data comes from the public quotations of mainstream equipment manufacturers on Alibaba platform, Guangzhou Baoneng and Shanghai Guangzhi.

Back-End Information Control System: The Brain of the Intelligent Factory

This is the biggest difference between the liquid detergent production line and the food powder, rubber crushing and other production lines—leading daily chemical enterprises have fully entered the MES (Manufacturing Execution System) era, and single-machine automation is only the starting point. Unlike the production lines that process materials such as airflow pulverizer, Vacuum Mill, and Dry Grinder, which focus on processing links, the liquid detergent production line pays more attention to the intelligence of the entire process, realizing the integration of production, scheduling and quality control.

The benchmark system of Maanshan Liby is analyzed as follows (the latest in 2024). Its investment scale is a cumulative investment of tens of millions of yuan in digital transformation, covering the entire line of the liquid detergent factory. Its core architecture includes three layers. The first is the perception layer: all core equipment (filling machine, capping machine, palletizing robot) are connected to the Internet, collecting real-time data of more than 200 points such as current, temperature, speed, output and energy consumption. The second is the platform layer: the MES system is fully integrated with ERP and WMS, realizing the integrated coordination of procurement, planning, production and sales. The third is the application layer, including real-time early warning: early alarm for equipment abnormalities, reducing fault downtime by 40%; formula issuance: automatic calling of process parameters according to orders, without manual input; quality traceability: each bottle of product can be traced to the production team, raw material batch and filling equipment; paperless: work orders, inspection records and quality inspection reports are all electronic, with a paperless rate of over 90%.

The quantitative benefits are: the average production efficiency is increased by 30%; the output value from January to September exceeds 1.4 billion yuan; it has been awarded the title of “Municipal Digital Production Line and Intelligent Factory”. The enlightenment for you is that the competition of automatic liquid detergent production lines has upgraded from “equipment automation” to “data intelligence”. When purchasing equipment, you must require suppliers to open communication protocols (OPC UA/Modbus TCP) and reserve MES interfaces. This is different from the production lines of baobab powder and EPDM rubber powder, which do not need such high-level information control systems due to their low automation level.

For small and medium-sized enterprises that do not have the conditions for tens of millions of yuan of MES investment for the time being, phased implementation can be carried out. The first step is to equip the filling line with PLC + touch screen to realize local data recording (the investment is already included in the equipment price). The second step is to add a workstation computer + code scanner to realize data collection of key processes (about 50,000-100,000 yuan per line). The third step is to deploy a lightweight MES (SaaS mode, annual fee of 30,000-80,000 yuan) and gradually connect it. In the process of phased implementation, equipment such as small grinder machine and Electric Grinder can be used for auxiliary processing of small batches of raw materials, reducing initial investment.

Essential Differences from the Production Lines You Inquired About Earlier (Must-Read for Selection)

There are significant differences in industrial maturity, automation level, core bottlenecks, investment certainty, information transparency and representative enterprises between the liquid detergent production line and the production lines you inquired about earlier, which are crucial for your equipment selection. The liquid detergent production line has a 5-star industrial maturity, with full-line automation and popular MES. Its core bottleneck is the changeover cleaning time, with extremely high investment certainty and rich public cases. Its representative enterprises are Liby, Nice and Blue Moon.

The washing powder high-tower line also has a 5-star industrial maturity, with full automation but high energy consumption. Its core bottleneck is environmental protection emissions, with high investment certainty and rich public cases. Its representative enterprises are Liby and Nanfeng. The baobab powder line has a 2-star industrial maturity, with only single-machine automation and no complete line. Its core bottleneck is non-standard shell breaking, with extremely low investment certainty and almost invisible information. Its representative enterprise is BFCS (Senegal).

The EPDM rubber powder line has a 2-star industrial maturity, mainly with single-machine automation. Its core bottleneck is the source of waste materials, with low investment certainty and almost invisible information. Its representative enterprise is Honglei (2006). The core conclusion is that the liquid detergent is the category with the most mature industrialization and the lowest investment risk in your inquiry sequence. There is no need to pioneer from scratch like the baobab powder line, nor to transplant technology across industries like the EPDM rubber powder line—you only need to select models from the mature supplier schemes according to your budget and production capacity. Unlike the production lines that process materials such as chemical, food, and Medicine, which have different equipment requirements, the liquid detergent production line has standardized equipment and mature supporting systems.

Procurement Action Advice: Three Steps to Lock in the Suitable Production Line

To purchase a suitable automatic liquid detergent production line, you need to go through three steps, each of which is indispensable. The first step is to clarify your core needs, including four aspects. The first is the product type: laundry detergent, dishwashing liquid, hand sanitizer or glass water? Different viscosities and pH values affect the selection of filling valves. The second is the target production capacity: how many bottles per day? Single bottle specification (500ml/1L/2L)? This directly determines the number of filling heads and the volume of the emulsifier. Unlike the production lines that need to determine the grinding fineness such as 500KG Grinder and 200KG grinder, the liquid detergent production line focuses on the matching of filling speed and emulsification capacity.

The third is the automation level: the basic version is single-machine automatic + manual assistance (investment of 500,000-1,500,000 yuan); the standard version is full-line linkage + PLC centralized control (investment of 1,500,000-4,000,000 yuan); the intelligent version is +MES + data traceability (investment of 4,000,000-10,000,000 yuan +). The fourth is the site limitation: the height and length of the plant (affecting the layout of the filling line). The second step is to accurately connect with suppliers. If you need a complete line scheme (recommended), you can use the following inquiry script: “Our company plans to build a fully automatic liquid detergent production line, with products as [laundry detergent/dishwashing liquid], target production capacity as [X tons/day] or [X bottles/hour] (Y liters per bottle). It needs to include the full-line linkage of five core sections: emulsification and batching system, servo filling machine, spider-hand capping machine, labeling machine and robot palletizing machine, and reserve MES interface. Please provide the video of your company’s put-into-production cases in the daily chemical industry and the on-site inspection address of customers.”

Supplier types include three categories: leading integrators such as Guangzhou Baoneng, Shanghai Guangzhi and Foshan Land, which can provide complete lines from filling to palletizing; professional emulsifier factories such as Guangdong Ligong and Guangzhou Huizhan, which focus on the front-end batching system; and overall solution providers such as Hangzhou Yongchuang Intelligence and Hefei General, which are listed companies that can directly replicate Liby’s model. The third step is to ask for necessary documents in technical negotiations, including five types of documents: the 3D layout drawing of the complete line to confirm whether the space is sufficient and the logistics is smooth; the workstation cycle analysis table to check the speed matching of each process and whether there are bottlenecks; the changeover cleaning SOP and time consumption, which is a key indicator for multi-variety production; the list of accepted customers, with at least 3 inspectable cases in the same industry; and the list of communication protocols to confirm whether OPC UA is supported and whether it can be connected to third-party MES.

Final Summary: You Are in the Best Track

Compared with many production lines with “demand but no standards” you inquired about earlier, the automatic liquid detergent production line is a standardized and mature market. You do not need to be a technical pioneer, but only a shrewd selector. The most direct action path is threefold. First, learn from Liby’s benchmark—5 workers per shift, daily output of 4,000 pieces, and full-process MES are completely replicable industry benchmarks. Second, choose mature equipment manufacturers—servo filling machines, spider-hand capping machines, and robot palletizing machines all have domestic brands, and their performance has completely replaced imports. Most of these equipment are made of stainless steel, with stable performance and low maintenance costs.

Third, invest step by step—first install the filling line, then supplement the MES, so that the cash flow pressure is controllable. In the initial stage, small-scale equipment such as 200KG grinder-level emulsifiers can be selected to reduce investment risks. If you can provide the following three figures: the target daily production capacity (bottles), the single bottle capacity (ml), and the product viscosity range (such as water-like vs paste-like), I can reversely deduce the accurate equipment configuration list, workshop layout sketch and annual investment plan for you based on the latest technological transformation project data of Liby in 2024 and the quotation system of mainstream equipment manufacturers. At the same time, I can also help you select suitable auxiliary equipment, such as matching Dust Grinder and dust collector grinder for small-batch raw material processing, to ensure the normal operation of the production line and meet environmental protection requirements.