Challenge
Design a label inspection system on a budget.
Solution
A Zebra DS2208 handheld scanner, ZD620 desktop printers, and a custom ZBI program.
Story
Label inspection is a common application that usually starts with incorrect labels being placed on a product and shipped to the end customer. That is exactly what happened to a local food packaging company. They produce a sauce that requires three labels on each bottle: front, back, and around the top. An entire batch shipped to their customer with a front label that did not match the back label.
The food packagers reached out to EMP for a label inspection solution. The first idea was a machine vision camera that would inspect each label to verify the correct job was running, but that greatly exceeded the customer’s budget. A second proposal added a small DataMatrix barcode to each label and used fixed-mount scanners to verify them, but the packaging company was unable to add the code. So EMP designed a third and final solution.
To fit the budget, EMP turned to its Scan and Print solution. The operator scans a barcode on the labels as they are loaded onto the applicator, then scans the master label from a logbook, and finally scans the job number from the production sheet. A label is printed and adhered to the production sheet showing that the label barcodes matched, who scanned them, and which job they were for. The approach makes sure the labels match and records who loaded them and confirmed the match.
The engineers at EMP work hard to develop a solution that meets the customer’s needs and budget. Let EMP find the best solution for you.
