INDUSTRY FOCUS PACKAGING
Offline coders take care of awkward packaging designs
Offline coders are quietly handling the awkward jobs that would otherwise hold up production as Richard Pether, director at Rotech explains
This was the issue facing a UK prepared
ackaging designs are often presented to production as a fait accompli. It is then up to equipment and factory engineers to figure out how to run that pack on a production line. Coding is one aspect of the packaging workflow that is rarely taken into account when a pack is conceived, even though clear and correct batch codes, use-by dates and traceability codes are essential when supplying the retail market. Consequently, some packs are
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inherently awkward to code online, perhaps because the area to be coded is in a hard-to-reach corner of the pack or because handling issues make it difficult for the pack to be presented squarely and consistently to the coding device. In both scenarios, offline coding offers an affordable and practical solution. By coding cartons, sleeves or pouches offline before they are filled, they can be brought to the production line ready printed. This has considerable advantages for code quality as coding the pack in its flat form results in a consistently clear, perfectly positioned code. Furthermore, where an online coder is struggling and creating a bottleneck, removing the process from the critical path can deliver efficiency improvements.
SLEEVES: REACHING THE PARTS OTHER CODERS CAN’T Take, for example, cardboard sleeves, an increasingly popular format for everything from ready meals to sausages, yogurts and desserts. Sleeves can be problematic when coding online, as they have a tendency to slide out of position, which can result in codes being applied outside the target area. Added to this, when marketing departments decide where codes should be printed on sleeves, they will usually opt for a discrete position, without taking into account how practical this will be to apply.
10 MAY 2015 | AUTOMATION
Coding offline prior to the box being erected ensures packs are presented to the coding device in a flat form for optimum code quality
The rise of the doy style stand-up pouch has presented some serious challenges for the coding operation
foods manufacturer when it contacted Rotech. The manufacturer in question had just taken an order from one of the multiples for 3,000 units of a new product that was packaged in a tub with a cardboard sleeve. The manufacturer was applying date codes using an existing inline inkjet system, but because the code was positioned in a difficult-to-reach spot at the bottom of the sleeve, the line had to be slowed down by 30 per cent to make sure the code was applied accurately. Essentially the coding operation had become a bottleneck because the coder was having trouble printing at an angle just a few millimetres above the conveyor. This was not only limiting line speed, but also resulting in packaging waste. Rotech’s solution came in the form of its
RF2, a standalone friction feed overprinting system that would enable the manufacturer to code the sleeves offline and bring them to the production line already printed. Engineered specifically for the food industry, the RF2 uses Rotech’s stack-to-stack feeding technology to pick sleeves from a stack, accurately print date or batch codes, and place the printed sleeve neatly onto another stack for
collection, all at speeds of 400 per minute. Pre-coding enabled the manufacturer to deactivate the inline coding system, restore line speed and code the 3,000 sleeves in a matter of minutes.
PRE-MADE POUCH PROBLEMS The rise of the doy style stand-up pouch has presented some serious challenges for the coding operation. Some of the more structured pouch designs are not so easy to produce on a form, fill, seal machine, so for small to medium volumes, producers are buying in pre-made pouches. The downside of this is that a thermal transfer printer cannot easily be employed to print on the formed pack. To this end, Rotech has developed the
RF1, a standalone vacuum feed overprinting system that has been engineered specifically for pouches, bags and other otherwise awkward to feed products. By using a thermal printer with a print width of up to 128mm and printing continuously, a very large print area of almost any length can be accommodated.
Rotech Machines
www.rotechmachines.com T: 01707 393700
Enter 202 TOUCH SCREEN HMI PROVIDES PRIMARY CONTROL
Kolman of Croatia is a manufacturer of high-quality, professional packaging machines, labelling machines and additional processing equipment. Specialising in manufacturing small, highly productive machines for the packaging of all kinds of materials depending on customer preference and type of goods, Kolman was in need of a complete control system for all of its machinery. The system needed to be as simple as possible, with easy HMI integration for operator ease of use. Another main requirement was the need for temperature control without using independent temperature controllers, while the servo drive control needed to be done directly from the PLC, as well as basic automation of pneumatic equipment. A Unitronics Vision570, Vision560, and V200-18-E4XB snap-in I/O were
chosen to fulfil Kolman’s requirements. The Vision570 unit was chosen because of the 5.7-inch colour touch screen; fulfilling the user-friendly operator interface requirement. The V200-18-E4XB snap-in module they chose meets every I/O need- it provides fast outputs using its PTO features for servo drive control, PT100 inputs for measuring the temperature of the heaters for welding the packaging foil, and Pulse Width Module outputs/PID control for precise temperature control of the heaters. It also had the right amount of inputs and outputs for controlling the pneumatic valves, sensors and actuators.
Unitronics
www.unitronics.com Enter 203 /AUTOMATION
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