|
APPLICATION
STORY.
Having
installed a state of the art chipboard sheet processing plant
in Merseyside, Sonae (UK) Ltd urgently needed a coding system
to print traceability codes onto conveyorised stacks, which
can contain in excess of 200 sheets. Although the stack throughput
was manageable by using hand applied self adhesive labels,
the process had to be halted to enable safe operator access,
as required by Health & Safety for a short period of time
for each stack to be labelled. With 24 hour production the
accumulative lost time was unacceptable. In addition to this,
there was a good possibility that the label could be damaged
within the warehouse, thus losing the stacks identity.
The
stacks which run centrally on a fixed speed conveyor, vary
in width between 1830 mm & 2520 mm, so a system that
would adjust automatically over the board width range was
required. To give traceability it was essential that real
time information, product code and material dimensions were
printed. The code needed to be clearly printed and visible
from a reasonable distance.
As
ATD inkjet printing equipment was in use successfully within
the Sonae company for individual board marking, we were asked
to propose a solution for the new application.
After
a site survey and a discussion with Sonae Technicians to establish
full requirements, an ATD system was installed for a 1 month
evaluation trial. This comprised of the proven IP9000 high
resolution printer, attached to a floor mounted stainless
steel auto positioning pantograph arm assembly. The system
is configured to print a single line of characters, 36 mm
in height with the data including date, time, dimensions and
product code information downloaded from the Sonae PLC.
The
system which was installed on November 1st 2002 has now worked
successfully with minimal maintenance and extremely low operating
costs.
Miguel
Hemsworth, who managed the project for Sonae UK is very satisfied
with the high standard of engineering, reliability and code
quality and has now circulated details of the ATD system to
other associated Sonae companies.
|
