Abstract: In order to reduce the failures during cigarette group forming, the cigarette pusher in YB48 hard packer was redesigned. Enlightened by the structural characteristics of plants with hollow stalks, the shape of the spacer plate of the cigarette plunger was optimized and the working surface of the cigarette guide block was modified accordingly. On the basis of ANSYS platform, the simulation analysis of the cigarette plunger before and after modification was conducted with finite element method. The results showed that the static and dynamic specific stiffness efficiencies of the modified cigarette plunger increased by 65.62% and 36.01% respectively, and its comprehensive mechanical property was promoted significantly. The modified cigarette plunger was tested on two YB48 hard packers in Lanzhou Cigarette Factory, the results indicated that the failures of cigarette pusher reduced by 37.17%, and the machine's downtime decreased by 38.34%. This technology provides a support for improving the efficiency of ultra-high speed packaging equipment.