In today’s production environments, marking and coding is required at each level of packaging from consumer units through cases, tray and bundles to pallets.
Consumers, business partners and the regulatory authorities demand ever more accurate on-package coding and information. Improved legibility, more variable data, better chosen print locations, faster production lines and more problematic packaging formats are all putting coding under the microscope.
Getting the right legible data on the right item is essential. If the wrong data is printed, it can be very costly in terms of rework, scrap, waste, efficiency, consumer confidence, legal compliance and product recalls. Even if there are no errors, additional costs can be incurred from excessive manual interventions and the resulting lower production efficiencies.
Listed below are common problems that can occur with coding equipment.
- Incorrectly setting up multiple pieces of packaging equipment on a production line.
- Not using the correct packaging or data to be printed when producing multiple similar products.
- Introducing errors when manually maintaining, updating, handing and transposing data to print from ERP systems through production planning to manufacturing.
- Incurring additional costs to maintain multiple image designs across multiple printer types and products.
- Incorrectly maintaining, setting up or running marking and coding equipment so that printed data is missing or not readable.
There are several different ways to reduce errors and costs associated with illegible or incorrect marking and coding. Listed below are various solutions that are available today to address different scenarios.
- Automating production change-overs — To eliminate incorrect data being printed.
- Reducing human error — By managing data centrally.
- Reducing or eliminating manual interventions — To increase production efficiencies when setting up production lines.
- Adding on-line automated visual inspection — To detect bad prints and incorrect packaging, with Auto-ID and Optical Character Recognition (OCR) vision equipment.
- Closing the loop with reporting systems — To confirm what has been printed and allow the data to be used in the supply chain for anti-diversion, anti-counterfeit, product recalls in relation to minimizing supply chain costs.
- Linking all the above solutions together into a single integrated software package.
At Griffin-Rutgers we offer a full-line of printing, marking, barcoding, labeling, and print & apply labeling systems for your packaging needs. We will ensure that your packaging is printed with accuracy and clarity and help you understand the various ways you can reduce packaging and coding errors.
