Case Study 5 - Recochem - An intelligent solution
How to make Printhead Blues obsolete?
Finally, an intelligent solution!
For any company that runs continuous labelling systems, ‘printhead’ can be a dirty word. They are necessary for the success of all labelling systems and, in most cases, are an expensive item to replace. But spare a moment’s thought for this most overworked part of a labelling printer. It is responsible for the clear and legible identification of each item of each product that comes off the assembly line. It works extremely hard and in the toughest of conditions. The printer it works for is relentless and shows no mercy even when cracks start to appear. Most operators on the production floor only find out about those cracks when the printhead is no longer able to do its job. The cost of replacing and repairing printheads can be significant for companies with high labelling workloads. Just the downtime alone caused by these failures impacts the total cost of ownership figures. Surely somewhere, somehow, someone could come up with a better solution? After all, many companies would welcome and embrace new technology that would mean the end to printhead failure and system instability. Recochem Australia is one such company and long-standing client of insignia, labelling specialists.
Their past printer of choice was the Datamax W-Class printer -- an excellent sturdy printer able to easily cope with the high demands of the chemical industry. There was just one significant and quickly becoming expensive, problem -- the printhead. They say a problem shared is a problem halved. Well in this case, it was a problem solved. This problem was brought to the attention of Brad Jeavons, Sales Manager for insignia. "We are the supplier of Datamax printers and their warranty provider for Datamax in Australia, so the simplest thing was to go directly to the source" he said.
The good news (and not just for Recochem) is that Datamax now produces the Datamax H-8303 Label Printer with the newly introduced InteliSEAQ printhead! That’s right, ‘inteli’ short for intelligent. This printer supersedes the W-Class printer in faster start of print and simplistic loading. It is RFID compatible and has high modularity (just like the W-Class) which makes for efficient servicing and repair. It has been designed for 24/7 operations.
Cindy Guiles, Product Manager from Datamax USA believes Datamax has engineered out of the printer the traditional fault points of label printers. “The impact this technology has on an organization’s label and tag printing operations can be quite profound. Aside from the obvious advantage of delivering a higher degree of print quality, the active management of printheads results in minimized downtime, decreased administrative costs, and most importantly, a reduction in total cost of ownership. While IntelliSEAQ clearly provides an advantage to even single-printer users, the savings and benefits become dramatic when you consider enterprise-wide applications.”
New technology in printheads, printhead locking mechanisms, media sensors and mainboard technology had led to this. Yes, yes…but what about the intelligent printhead?
Amazing but true, the InteliSEAQ printhead actually has its own intelligence. It manages each individual element of the printhead. Literally, it knows what is going on and can manage problems as soon as they occur. Operators are not left guessing about problems, the LED displays tells them everything, so solutions are arrived at quickly with far less downtime. Downtime is reduced even further as this printhead protects itself in order to get the longest life. According to Brad, "insignia have been really impressed with this new printer. The Datamax H-8308 Label Printer with the InteliSEAQ printhead has main board PCB logic in the printhead thereby extending its life and completely improving the overall performance. All of this makes this printhead cost-effective as does the printer itself, as it is easy to load, reliable in operation and simple to integrate with just a standard network card, usb and optional wireless network card".
The H-Class predecessor, the W-Class, had a 90 mhz processor whereas the Datamax H-8308 processor is 200 mhz. That is obviously a time saver with quick start to print, which yet again improves label production time and machine efficiency.
This printer beats the W-Class hands down for simplistic loading. In relation to loading and general operation, Datamax has come up with a new robust design that makes this machine far more user-friendly than its predecessors. It has simple to load labels as well as ribbon. This machine has a side-load and is quite unique for an 8” wide print width printer.
Other features of this printer:
- Dyecast frame
- cog driven motor
- Modular design
- New sensor technology and latching mechanism
- Built in motorized internal rewind which allows for the rewinding of a full roll of labels inside the printer.
Brad is well aware that "most companies can ill-afford frequent problems with their printers as they are mission-critical and faults can stop production as much as failures in any other piece of production hardware".
Cindy agrees and believes that it is this kind of knowledge that drives Datamax to continue to improve an already exceptional product. “The creation and implementation of IntelliSEAQ represents a significant technological and functional advantage over other printers and manufacturers,” Hall added. “Moreover, this advancement demonstrates the Datamax commitment to driving and elevating the industry’s standards for innovation, quality, and performance.”
Another amazing feature of this Datamax H8303 label printer is its affordability. Its cost is competitive to any comparable printer, and the fact that it soon starts paying for itself makes this printer harder to resist.
It is insignia’s observation that having the right technology reduces downtime and Total Cost of Ownership and that means companies making the smart choice and purchasing this new Datamax H-8308 with the InteliSEAQ printhead, will find that their servicing costs are drastically reduced. There is no need to send this printhead off-site for repairs and reconditioning, since repairs and part replacement can all happen on site.
If you are tired of the all-too familiar printhead failures and are thinking change is imminent, then the new Datamax H-8303 Label Printer may solve your problems and is definitely worth investigating. insignia is Australia’s Datamax distributor and certified warranty repairer. They are always available to talk through problems of this nature and with their full technical and field support across the nation, insignia can assist companies to make this change. Lost time due to repetitive printhead failure could become a thing of the past for your company.