32 AUGUST 2017 A LOOK AT LABELS A boxed product without an identifier won’t reach its intended destination with any form of ease, says Videojet Technologies global marketing manager Arthur Smith. Products that are bundled, boxed and ready to begin their journey along the retail supply chain require an identifier. A box of product without this won’t get very far, and will certainly not reach its intended destination with any form of ease, therefore a label detailing its contents is necessary. Today, consumer demand for choice has led to many variations of products being required. As an example, you may have a chocolate bar that is available in plain, milk, raspberry and mint flavours - each requiring its own unique identifier. This has fuelled the need for nimble, flexible LPA systems that can be adapted quickly and efficiently where many fast changeovers are required. The regulatory landscape, too, has been an important driver in improved technologies around LPA. Food safety concerns are a high priority across the board and regulations require products to be labelled with accurate, readable codes. This enables particular batches to be isolated - should a fast product recall be required - and could significantly reduce the negative impact of that recall if the company in question can demonstrate the ability to identify and remove unsafe product straight away. There are two main ways to print labels onto outer cases. One is via a process called flexography, which is the printing of the entire outer case before it is filled. While this is a reliable process, there are obvious drawbacks in modern manufacturing operations, in that it requires that manufacturers hold enormous quantities of stock for each SKU produced. Every time a product changeover is effected, the packaging will also need to be changed at the same time, making the process more time-consuming. This downtime leads to loss of operational time, which will inevitably affect profitability. With an LPA system there is no such issue, as the label itself can be changed with very little input from operators. Intuitive systems enable new information to be added with little or no chance of error, meaning a changeover can be carried out on-the-line. This in turn negates the need to carry an inventory of packaging for the various SKUs, and the associated storage and downtime expenses. Mis-applied labels, label jams, wrinkled labels and the need for constant mechanical adjustment of labelling equipment are common issues manufacturers face. In order to maintain maximum uptime, which can be detrimentally affected by these issues, LPA systems have been developed to alleviate those issues with minimal operator involvement. For example, Intelligent Motion direct drive can enable label speed and position to be controlled without clutches, rollers or adjustments, and a simplified web path means label changes can take place in less than 60 seconds. Tension can also be automatically adjusted via an electronic supply reel, which maintains the correct tension irrespective of speed and label size from the start to the end of each reel. Printhead pressure is automatically regulated to ensure optimum quality and maximum printhead life, while labels are applied using a simple, single roller wipe action to wrap case PA C K A G I N G FT358
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