Servo versus pneumatic: choosing a dosing drive

Pneumatic is cheaper up front. Servo pays back in accuracy and changeover time. Where the crossover sits.

Pneumatic dosing is simple, robust and inexpensive to maintain, which makes it a sound choice for single-product lines with low changeover frequency. Servo drives cost more initially, but recover that difference quickly on multi-SKU lines through recipe memory, faster changeovers and tighter fill accuracy.

As a rule of thumb, more than four product changeovers a week usually tips the economics toward servo.