Case Study 2 - Fosters - The right printer, for the right environment

Is it possible to have the right printer for the right environment?

Labels are everything in the beverage industry, especially when it comes to beer. Consumers recognise their favourites, first by the label and then taste. Place the wrong label on a beer connoisseur’s beer bottle and they can soon tell by the taste that the label is wrong. No less important from a beer and beverage manufacturer’s perspective is the label that is applied to each pallet.

Identifying labels need to be applied more than once and once applied, need to stay there and be legible from the initial application through to delivery. Pallet identification is a crucial area for accuracy. Inaccurate, incomplete or illegible labels slow output, raise production costs and are something that a company like the Fosters Group does not want in their world of beverage production.

So it is no surprise that they take labelling very seriously and the printing and application needs of a such a well-known beer and beverage company are extensive. For successful production, the Fosters Group needed a customised solution that would meet the high demands of their industry. A solution that was time saving and robust enough to withstand 24 hour production 7 days a week. 

As you can imagine this is no small undertaking and the creation of the right printing solution became a nationwide project for insignia, labelling solutions specialists. The extensive automated labelling project was the result of Fosters analysing the majority of the solution providers and deciding on insignia and the solutions offered by them through Domino and the Mectec system of printing and application.

The advantages insignia offered over the competition were:

• The quality of the equipment. More than 20 years of experience has gone into the Swedish design and manufacturing. There is no plastic, just stainless steel and aluminium with standard Festo pneumatics and SICK sensors
• Reliability. These machines are literally bullet proof. They have been designed to manage up to 40,000 labels a day, every day. As Domino knows ‘to print a label is easy - to apply it with precision and reliability can be more difficult! The 1 millionth label should be applied just as well as the first; otherwise it is not a true working InLine solution!’
• Ease of use. This machine offers simple and fast label loading
• Integration. Another plus in Domino’s favour was the simple integration into existing systems whether they be software driven or PLC based
• Flexibility of the machine in relation to its differing tamp arm options and smart application technologies.
• The system’s modularity and easy to acquire replacement parts  means limited downtime waiting for parts replacement.

The printing and labelling system chosen was the Mectec TP601 which is a two side pallet applicator with electric lifting legs. This is a system for that automatically labels 2 sides of a pallet with just one stop of the pallet. The labels are printed in high resolution 220/300 DPI and this applicator comes in a right-hand or left hand version.

It offers warnings when labels are low and when the ribbon is almost finished. Its application is Tamp/Tamp-Blow. This creates smooth application of the label, eliminating application wrinkles that can render the barcodes ineffective for scanning.

The project was a national deal with applicators going into all of Foster’s production sites. A standard solution has now been developed and insignia’s delivery team ensured on time delivery of the solution.

Already this solution is proving the right solution and a strong business relationship has developed between Fosters, insignia and Domino.

This solution will also prove to be well thought out economy. Take the proven longevity of this product and the superior performance of this system and add to that the low cost of service and maintenance and that adds up to a very healthy Total Cost of Ownership. 

Companies looking for quality reliable solutions, that don’t break present or projected budgets can be assured that insignia and Domino can create a suitable solution of the highest quality, most reliable, simple to use system which will integrate well with existing systems. The outcomes for a company can be similar to the Fosters Group. A simple and reliable label applicator system throughout its warehouses nationwide. Every warehouse would have unified production systems and with insignia’s national presence, every warehouse would have quality service and support.

Not only that, your project would be well-supported, from on-time delivery with initial promises fulfilled to ongoing field service and training. insignia specialises in creating the right solution with the right system to keep your company right at the front of your field. With a national presence and strong partnerships with world-class companies like Domino, prompt sales, service and support can be assured.