But also with the challenge that each meal must be shipped to the customer with the correct label. With many short production runs, so quick changeovers of packaging machines are required. With the chance of the wrong label roll being placed in the machine.
Vision Partners recently installed several customer-specific inspection systems in the production line which checks at high speed whether the correct label is placed. Of course, it is completely protected from the humid environment where regular cleaning is performed.
An industrial barcode reader is used to read the barcode of each label. The reader is located with stainless steel to the labeling machine. Each line has a control box where the industrial computer controls the barcode scanner and touchscreen display, can stop the production line through analog IO and is connected to the customer's Ethernet.
At the beginning of the production run, the system can be taught which bar code is desired:
- The desired barcode is transmitted by TCP/IP from the parent system
- The operator "learns" the desired bar code from the production order form
- The operator enters the desired EAN code on the user interface
The software validates the bar code and the production line is stopped if the wrong label is attached to the meal. The inspection results are displayed on an operator screen and the errors are logged for reporting and following up on any customer inquiries.
Thanks to this label validation, mixed-shipments are no longer sent to the customer.
"Thanks to this customer-specific implementation of label inspection, I now have peace of mind that no wrong labels on our products are going to our customers."
