Why a $525 proof-of-concept run will save you $5,000 — at minimum.

Here's the conversation we have more often than any other at Overgang. A brand comes to us with their formula, their target fill weight, and a sachet size they picked based on what looked good at the packaging show or what their designer proposed based on the artwork. They've already ordered film. Sometimes 50,000 impressions of it. And the sachet size is wrong.

Not wrong in a catastrophic way. Wrong in the way that matters at production scale: the fill-to-pouch ratio doesn't work, the seal area is too tight, or the powder doesn't flow consistently through the auger at that rate. These are solvable problems. But they're dramatically cheaper to solve before you've committed to film, ingredients, and a production run than after.

That's what a proof-of-concept run is for.

What We're Actually Testing

A proof-of-concept run at Overgang costs $525. You send us 10 pounds of your ingredient or blend and a small roll of film in your target format. We run it. Here's what we learn:

1. Does your powder actually flow?

Most powders flow fine. Some don't. Extremely hygroscopic blends, very fine particle sizes, and certain ingredient combinations can bridge in the hopper, cause inconsistent auger fill, or clump in ways that create fill weight variance outside acceptable tolerance. You'd rather know this before your 8,000-unit production run than during it.

If your powder has a flow issue, we can often address it — by adjusting auger speed, hopper geometry, or run conditions. Sometimes the solution is reformulation. We'll tell you honestly which it is.

2. Does your target sachet size actually fit your fill weight?

This is the most common surprise. Powder bulk density varies enormously by formula. A 30g fill of creatine monohydrate has a completely different physical volume than a 30g fill of a fluffy, low-density electrolyte blend. The same sachet size that works perfectly for one 30g product produces a poorly sealed, overstuffed, or undermounted pouch for another.

The proof-of-concept run tells us your actual fill-to-pouch ratio on your specific formula. If your sachet is undersized, we know before you've printed 100,000 impressions of film. If it's oversized and your product looks cheap and loose in the bag, we know that too.

3. Do we need new auger tooling?

This is the one that can turn a $525 test into a $4,000+ line item if you skip it. Auger tooling — the specific auger flight and die that meters your powder into the pouch — is sized to fill weight and powder characteristics. A fine powder at 5g fills differently than a coarse blend at 35g. If your product requires a tooling configuration we don't currently stock, we need to order it before production day.

Custom auger tooling runs approximately $3,500–$4,500 per tool. That's not a small number. But it's a manageable number when you know about it in advance, budget for it, and factor it into your go/no-go decision. It's a catastrophic number when you show up on production day and find out mid-run.

4. What are your real fill parameters?

The proof-of-concept run produces documented numbers: actual fill weight at auger speed X, seal temperature, dwell time, actual throughput rate. These are the numbers we use on production day to set up your run correctly from the first pouch. The result is less startup waste, lower yield loss, and more sellable product out the other side.

Without these numbers, every production run starts with a calibration period — trial fills, adjustments, discarded pouches — that eats into your batch. With them, we set the machine to your documented parameters and start producing good product faster.

What Can Go Wrong Without a Test Run

Here's a realistic cost of skipping the $525 proof-of-concept and going straight to a full production run:

Problem Discovered Day-Of	Likely Cost
Wrong sachet size — film already ordered (50K impressions)	$1,500–$3,000 wasted film
Auger tooling needed — run delayed or cancelled	$3,500–$4,500 tooling + rescheduling fee
Powder flow issue — partial batch, extended setup	Yield loss on full ingredient order
Seal failures from over-fill — run scrapped	Full production cost + ingredients
Run rescheduled due to materials issues	25% non-refundable slot fee

Any one of those line items costs more than the test run. A combination of two is a very bad day that could have cost $525 to prevent.

What the $525 Does Not Cover

Let's be straight about what a proof-of-concept run is and isn't. It's not a full clean-down of our production line. The product we run in your proof-of-concept is not sellable — it may have been exposed to trace residues from prior runs and hasn't gone through a full quality release process. You get documentation, parameters, and answers. You don't get inventory to sell.

If you need a clean, sellable small batch for sampling or early retail accounts, that's a production run — priced at our standard rate, with a full setup and quality process. The proof-of-concept is specifically for validation before you commit to the real thing.

When You Should Absolutely Do a Proof-of-Concept Run

• It's your first production run of a new formula at any facility
• You've never run this formula on an HFFS machine before
• Your formula contains highly hygroscopic ingredients (allulose, certain fibers, freeze-dried components)
• Your fill weight is under 10g (low-fill accuracy is harder)
• You haven't done a formal sachet sizing test with your actual powder
• You're switching from a different co-packer and want to verify compatibility before committing volume
• Your formula has unusual particle sizes or density characteristics