PF400 Offline Labelling System

Posted on by Christina Windsor

Case Study – Snack Foods PF400 Labelling

Business Needs: Reliability, Ease of Use

Application to automate an existing process where operators manually printed and  applied EAN13 barcode and product information labels to empty product cartons.

Reliability was required to ensure productions rates of 30-40 Cartons per minute were met. (up to 60 cartons/min achieved)

Ease of Use was necessary to ensure easy interaction with the operator for Stacking / Labelling / and repacking of the various shaped ‘shelf ready’ cartons A magazine that would hold approximately 30 cartons was required for the application. Good print quality and consistent label placement were also required to ensure 100% scan rate Empty Shelf Pack cartons

Solution:

To accommodate the high production speeds required, a modified Paksmart PF400 feeder and Avery ALX720 label Printer applicator were selected for this application. The Operator sets up the feeder for one of the many styles of cartons required and the label format is downloaded to the labeler from a local PC. Cartons are dispensed individually onto twin vacuum belts and the labels are printed and applied to the cartons. There are several label styles including Square and oval shaped labels with ‘product’ and ‘Use By’ information.

If a Barcode label is required, a verify scanner may be switched on to verify label placement and readability of the EAN13 barcode. As the cartons are used in several locations in the plant it was necessary to dispense and restack the empty cartons into set quantities for restacking into shipper cartons. A shingle conveyor with selectable batch size quantities was included into the PLC program. The ‘wipe on’ label apply technology ensures the empty cartons are not damaged during the labeling process.