Over the years, cigarette companies have needed to design ways to keep up with the growing demand of cigarettes.
The major ingredient in each of our cigarettes is tobacco. A number of other ingredients may be added to the tobacco, including processing aids, humectants, preservatives and brand-specific flavors. After the tobacco has been cut, it is stored in giant silos before entering the cigarette manufacturing process.
Manufacturing cigarettes is a fast-paced, highly automated process; machines produce between 8,000 and 20,000 cigarettes every minute. Spools of cigarette paper up to 6,000 meters long are rolled out and tobacco is placed on it. The paper is closed over the tobacco, making one long cigarette known as a "rod".
Before automated cigarette manufacturing machines were introduced, all cigarettes where made by hand. People worked on a line and rolled and glued the cigarettes one at a time. This process was slow and did not produce many cigarettes in a given day. Today, there are more than sixteen thousand cigarettes made each minute on one machine.
Machines slice this super-sized "rod" into much shorter lengths, insert filters, and finally cut the shorter lengths into individual filter cigarettes. Every single cigarette is checked at three different stages for the quality of its construction.
The cigarettes are then sorted into pack-sized groups, wrapped in foil to preserve their aroma, packed and put into shipping cases.
Although the manufacture of cigarettes is a highly automated process, it will never lose its human element. Supervision of the production process is vital: inspection of the leaf, blending, and quality assurance of the final product can never be left solely to machines.
Technology has drastically increased from the time of hand rolling. Thanks to the use of automated cigarette manufacturing machines, cigarettes are made in huge quantities in a fast and efficient manner. First the tobacco is transferred from it’s holding areas, this is normally called a silo. In the silo, the tobacco is processed to insure the fullest flavor of your Camels or Marlboros cigarettes btands. Then it is transferred to a machine that will cut the tobacco and divide it. The machine will divide the tobacco and roll it into cylindrical shapes. Then it is transferred on to another machine.
The final process is to flip one of the doubled stick so that it faces the opposite direction. This ensures that made cigarettes are in proper place for packing. The machines used these days are faster paced than just doing it yourself. It all seems quite simple from back in the day when they had processed cigarettes by hand.
This next machine will work with the paper. The paper is fed into machines on long rolls that will cut off at specific sections. This will actually make more than one cigarette at a time. Often, this system will make two or more cigarettes in which are rolled into the paper and glued, then cut. The filter is then added and a brown cork paper is then added to the white tube. It is at this point in which the cigarette manufactures logo is printed on to the cigarette.
From there, the cigarette will move onto the packaging area. Packaging is interesting as the cigarettes are each turned opposite from each other and then put into packs. This insures a tight fit into the wrapping. All in all, this process takes micro seconds for each cigarette! Amazing. Cigarette manufacturing is now so high speed that automated machines can now produce more than eighty thousand cigarettes in the same time that it used to take to make just one cigarette by hand.
Marketing Manager
World Technology Network
2013 H Street, NY, 10001, USA
559-4812 //
http://www.hot-cigs.com
