Cookie Notice: We use cookies to improve your browsing experience. By continuing to use our site, you accept our privacy and cookie policy. Learn more about our Cookie Policy. I Understand
All-Electric Labeller Utilizes Smart Sensing Technology to Maximize Reliability
Diagraph recently launched the LA/4750 – a servomotor-controlled label applicator system featuring enhanced smart sensing technology. The intuitive design allows the LA/4750 to auto-detect irregularities in operation, reducing complications from missing labels, variable line speeds and inconsistent product distances – resulting in the industry’s smartest, most reliable all-electric label applicator.
The new label applicator system builds upon Diagraph’s proven Platinum E-Series labelling technology to offer greater total-system reliability. Utilizing precision control made possible by high performance brushless DC servomotors, the LA/4750 reads smart sensor signals in real-time to adjust label dispensing commands. Diagraph’s smart sensing technology ensures precision label placement, reducing the need to rework improperly labelled products.
The LA/4750 features key enhancements that allow it to accurately dispense hard-to-read clear labels, prevent missed products and double feeds, and auto-adjust outputs to changes in line speeds. The system also features an independent rewind drive that works as a clutch-less, no adjustment system that is easy to web – a major pain point with other labelling machines.
Available in wipe and tamp models, the LA/4750 can apply labels to the side, top, bottom and corner-wrap of primary products and cases. Diagraph’s all-electric labelling technology allows manufacturers to move away from expensive, dirty and unreliable pneumatic air without compromising performance.
The LA/4750 is designed to be simple to set up and easy to use. For more information, call 800-722-1125 or visit diagraph.com.
ST. LOUIS, (Sept. 1, 2015) – Diagraph recently launched the Linx 8900 – a next generation CIJ (continuous ink jet) printer featuring an error-free user interface and smart productivity reporting functionality. The printer is designed to maximize efficiencies during production, delivering valuable cost and time savings.
Capable of printing both human and machine-readable codes, the Linx 8900 incorporates a wealth of new features and reporting functions that speed up day-to-day operation and maintenance. Production monitoring is made easy with a unique screen saver mode that provides manufacturers with a simple visual status check, indicating whether throughput is on target or not.
This is part of a range of reporting features that provide at-a-glance real-time data, which also includes downtime information and batch counts. The Linx 8900 self-monitoring productivity reports can be easily transferred to a USB for archival and analysis purposes. The smart productivity reporting functionality allows operators and plant managers to identify patterns or reasons for any line stoppages, allowing for the quick implementation of changes, solutions or countermeasures to improve efficiency and productivity.
In addition to the productivity reporting functionality, the new system’s self-service module is designed for engineer-free service and minimized downtime, allowing operators to change filters and ink in one quick step with the help of the on-screen Self-Service Wizard to guide operators through the process. The easy and quick self-service functionality allows maintenance managers to schedule service times around production schedules, causing no need to take the printer off-line.
These smart reporting features and minimized service and maintenance requirements combine with Linx’s industry-leading sealed printhead to allow the Linx 8900 to perform reliably in even the harshest factory conditions. Linx’s proven autoflush system thoroughly cleans the printhead every time the printer is shut down, ensuring a fast and clean start-up when it is next required. The automated cleaning feature enables the Linx 8900 to be cleaned and ready for immediate use even after three months out of operation, making it ideal for periods of extended shutdowns.
The Linx 8900 is designed to be simple to use and maintain, minimize operator errors and identify opportunities to improve production line efficiency in real-time. For more information, call 800-722-1125.
About Diagraph, An ITW Company
Diagraph, An ITW Company is a leading manufacturer and distributor of marking, coding and labeling systems and supplies, and has been in the product identification industry for over 120 years. Diagraph’s products include all-electric printer applicator labeling systems, LINX continuous ink jet and laser coders, large character ink jet printing systems and thermal transfer overprinting systems.
About Linx Printing Technologies Ltd
Linx Printing Technologies is a leading global supplier of continuous ink jet (CIJ) printers, case coders, laser coders, thermal transfer printers and thermal inkjet printers. Its printers and coders are used across many different industries where product identification codes, batch numbers, dates and barcodes are required.
All Linx products are designed with low cost of ownership in mind and are distinguished by reliability, robustness and ease of use. Linx products code and mark millions of items every day, ranging from bottles, packages and cans of consumer goods to pharmaceutical products, cabling, electrical components and car parts.
No longer is it the case that snacks are packaged specifically for children’s lunch boxes. Today, the snack market is heavily geared towards adults with 94% of adults snacking at least once a day and 50% snacking 2 to 3 times a day.* Snack producers are tasked with changing traditional packaging to address a different kind of consumer.
To stay on top of fluctuating snack market trends, food companies find they need to develop new packaging such as single-serve packs, convenient on-the-go solutions, and sustainable “green” packaging. Aside from creating a trendy and appealing packaging aesthetic, snack packaging frequently requires variable codes such as “Best By” or expiration dates. With consumers growing more and more health-conscious, some code requirements include allergen information, genetic modification information, and country of origin.
Many snack food companies make use of continuous ink jet (CIJ) printing technology to meet these coding requirements. CIJ is cost- effective and has a wide range of fluids to ensure coding adhesion and legibility on both porous and non-porous packaging like cardboard, plastics, metal, glass, or flexible packaging. At a minimum, your CIJ equipment must be able to produce legible and durable date, lot, and identification codes on a variety of substrates. However, there are other key features to look for when selecting a continuous ink jet printer to keep your snack packaging operations in uptime by minimizing maintenance and human errors including:
Given the wide variety of packages and product types at snack food manufacturers, the flexibility offered by CIJ is also considered an appealing benefit. Leading systems’ printheads can be used in any orientation with 360 degree printhead positioning and many can be moved from line to line to accommodate many shapes, sizes, and levels of packaging.
Diagraph offers the Linx 8900 Series CIJ printers to help our customers produce a long lasting, quality mark on a variety of packaging materials. The 8900 Series is designed with many smart, easy-to-use features to keep your production line up and running. Live chat with one of our equipment specialists to learn more. Or, read up on the latest innovations in snack food packaging in our latest whitepaper.
2018: Innovations in Snack Food Packaging
Every package printed with a noncompliant mark is a package you can't ship, costing your company time and money. Improving print technology can help improve packaging compliance. Diagraph's industrial inkjet printing technology was built specifically to improve print quality and production line uptime for manufacturing environments.
With a single actuation, Diagraph’s push-mode piezo print technology can dispense three times the volume of ink compared to a shared bend-mode piezo print system. The push-mode piezo technology fires once per pixel while bend-mode print engines fire three or more times per pixel.
Reduced firing actuations lengthen the life of Diagraph’s print engine by three times compared to other engines on the market. The darker, single drop provides greater ink contrast for better code scanning and package compliance.
Push-mode piezo print technology provides several benefits above and beyond those available with bend-mode piezo print systems.
Diagraph’s print engine technology is designed to be repairable so it can be fixed easily and cost effectively. A Diagraph repaired printhead can be ordered for an online swap of a current print system at less than 40-50% the cost of a new printhead. Replacing a bend-mode inkjet printhead costs 100% of the original printhead.
The working life of a Diagraph inkjet printing system using a push-mode piezo print engine is up to 10 years when properly maintained. The working life for a bend-mode printhead that sees the same amount of use is 2 to 3 years. The cost savings add up very quickly for any company printing and shipping large amounts of product.
Diagraph’s push-mode print engine has a published lifetime of >90 billion firings—almost four times longer than some competitive systems that claim 25 billion firings. Diagraph’s industrial inkjet print technology provides fast, accurate and reliable printing on packaging—ensuring all packages are compliant with shipping regulations.
Watch our animation to learn more.
Click here to request a free sample of your logo printed by our push-mode piezo print engine and see the difference!
Effectively moving products through manufacturing and into the retail supply chain requires a robust track‐and‐trace capability. You need to know when products came off the line, where they’re located and where they’re headed. In production environments that integrate manufacturing, packaging and shipping operations, the final step in this process is pallet labeling.
Manufacturers that operate on a relatively small scale with a limited number of SKUs and shipments to only a few distributors or customers may be able to keep pace with manual pallet labeling processes. But high‐volume manufacturers that produce a variety of SKUs and prepare shipments to many destinations should consider an automated print‐and‐apply labeling system that supports higher throughput with lower unit costs.
Diagraph offers an all‐electric print & apply pallet labeling system, freeing manufacturers from the potential inconsistencies often associated with conventional pneumatic labelers. And, since inconsistencies in pallet labeling have the potential to disrupt production and delay outgoing shipments, it’s critical to ensure your labeling solution delivers reliable results, shift after shift.
To ensure uptime and maximize labeling consistency, Diagraph’s latest all‐electric print‐and‐apply labeling machine incorporates a variety of smart sensors that are engineered to detect potential problems and make automated adjustments on the fly. By incorporating smart sensors into our labeling solutions, we can help manufacturers maximize uptime, minimize or eliminate errors, and make it easier than ever to ensure compliance with customer labeling requirements.
With smart sensor technology, a Diagraph print‐and‐apply labeling system can do things such as:
In addition to smart sensing technology, Diagraph’s automated all‐electric PA7100 print‐and‐apply labeling machines employ Zebra ZE500 Series OEM thermal printer engine. This thermal printing technology delivers industry‐leading durability and performance anywhere 4‐ or 6‐inch labels are needed. One of the key advantages of Zebra’s print engine is all‐metal construction, which ensures long‐lasting durability. They also employ printer management tools that help detect problems before they impact productivity, making them the perfect companion to our smart sensor technology.
If you would like to learn more about the innovative technology that Diagraph builds into automated print‐and‐apply labeling systems, contact your Diagraph representative. We’ll be glad to show you how our industry‐leading approach can help you prepare shipments for the retail supply chain more efficiently.
# # #
The Container You Choose for Your Brew Determines Which Coding Technology You Should Choose
An excerpt from 2016 Comprehensive Guide to Date and Batch Coding in the Craft Brewing Industry
Different types of technology are needed for printing on your primary (bottle or can) package and on your secondary (outer box) package. Continuous ink jet (CIJ) and laser are the most common options for printing date codes, batch codes, other text, graphics, barcodes, QR codes and other codes onto primary beverage packages. When selecting a coding system for your primary packaging, the first step is to consider what type of material you will be printing on. Keeping in mind that you can reasonably expect the printer to last five to seven years, what types of packages are you using now and do you plan to use in the years ahead? Bottles can be coded with either laser or CIJ systems. Cans are coded with CIJ technology. This means that a craft brewer who wants to be able to code on both cans and bottles will need a CIJ system.
The next consideration that should factor into your coding technology decision is production volume. Download our free guide to view cost comparisons based on the number of bottles and/or cans you fill per day.
2016 Comprehensive Guide to Date and Batch Coding in the Craft Brewing Industry
As a leading provider of marking and coding technology, Diagraph works with breweries of all sizes across the country to fulfill product traceability needs that can easily scale up for future capacity and complexity. Diagraph manufactures batch coding and date coding technologies that span the entire packaging line -- from primary product to secondary packaging all the way to pallet labeling.