Dutch producers Plusfood have been setting the standard for innovative, high-quality product in the Further Processed Poultry field for the last 30 years and their chicken specialities are now prevalant in all market segments including retail and food service. With three factories in Europe, Sales Offices in the Benelux region, the UK, Italy, and Hungary, and with clients in a multitude of countries across Europe, Plusfood is now a major player in the European Market.
Approached by leading supermarket chain Morrisons to produce some of its FPP products, Plusfood's Wrexham Site in North Wales required a traded unit labelling solution to be installed to apply self adhesive labels to the outer case of boxes at the end of the in-line production process.
With this requirement in mind, Plusfood needed a Labelling Machineryand Systems provider with the ability to manufacture and install a Print and Apply Label Applicator that would perform reliably and avoid causing any unnecessary downtime to their advanced production line.
As the UK's Independent Experts in Label Printing and Labelling, Etiquette Labels Ltd were naturally the first choice for Plusfood and were able to provide the perfect solution for the job - a customized version of Etiquette's proven PRX 160 AL PLC Print and Apply Label Applicatorcomplete with SATOŽ M8460 Print Engine.
As well as the need for applying self adhesive labels to boxes travelling along a fixed speed conveyor, Plusfood also required its Operators to have the ability to input fixed and variable data into the printed labels. Etiquette catered for this by installing an Etiquette SoloŽ Printer Keyboard and USB Module. This valuable addition to the PRX 160 AL PLC Labelling Machine allows the production manager to design label templates with variable data fields in the office, then download them to the Etiquette SoloŽ Keyboard housed on the PRX 160 AL PLC Label Applicator. From there, the machine operators can use the keyboard to input the variable data need (e.g Best Before Dates) for the labels that are to be printed and applied to the products.
With the machine installed by Etiquette's experienced Engineers it was then time to integrate it into the in-line production process and test how it would perform. Site Manager at the Plusfood Wrexham Site Cliff Adderton was more than impressed with the Print and Apply Labelling Machine and support he received from Etiquette. He said :
"Once we had established the speed of the production line, the Label Applicator from Etiquette performed reliably and efficiently. Etiquette's Engineering Team has been availabel on-demand throughout the whole process of establishing the machine as a vital part of the line. To manage our production online and in-lne is what we were aiming to achieve and with the help of Etiquette this is the first time we have been able to do that with a labeller."
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PRX 160 AL PLC PRINT AND APPLY LABEL APPLICATOR SPECIFICATION
The PRX 160 AL PLC Print and Apply Labelling Machine from Etiquette is a top or side of pack Printer Applicator with the reknowned SATOŽ M8460 6" Print Engine. Mainly used for the printing and application of self adhesive labels to the top or side of products travelling along a conveyor, the PRX 160 AL PLC includes :
Label Roll unwind unit for reels up to 280mm O/D
Facility to handle labels up to 160mm wide
Print Width up to 152mm (6")
Print Resolution - 8 dots/mm (203dpi)
Print Speed selectable from 100 - 400mm/sec
Label Web Break Alarm
Thermal Ribbon Break or Run-Out Alarm
Thermal Head Failure Alarm
Printer Open Alarm
Height Adjustable Floor Stand with Anti-Slide Feet and Casters
Handwheels for Horizontal and Vertical Adjustment
Microprocessor Control with LCD Display
Variable Dispensing Speed Control
Label Flag (pre-dispense) Control
Label Dwell Time Control
Labels Dispensed Counter (incremental or decremental)
Etiquette SoloŽ Standalone Printer Keyboard and USB Converter Module
Warning Beacon for Low Labels, Ribbon Out, and Printer Error Messages
