Reynolds Catering is one of the premier fresh and chilled food distribution companies to the foodservice sector in the UK. At its National Distribution Centre in Waltham Cross the company introduced a system of traceable and returnable plastic crates for use on its conveyor picking line. Richard Calder Head of Systems Development – “The one bottleneck in the picking operation was the application of two labels to both side and leading edges of the plastic crates, the problem was further complicated by the fact that certain clients still preferred their orders packed in cardboard.
The existing application process was manual, time consuming and expensive so Reynolds sought a solution that would automate the application and accommodate both types of crates without operator intervention to alter the configuration of the chosen machine. We saw a number of companies in our efforts to find a solution but in the tender process Industrial Labelling Systems Ltd came up with the most robust system – which met and in certain cases surpassed the criteria we had set down.”
The Reynolds customer requirement was to automatically apply two pre-printed unique packing labels to the front & side faces of empty plastic & cardboard trays at speeds up to 12 trays per minute.
The system consisted of a 5 metre roller conveyor for loading the trays ready to go into the pre- labelling queuing system complete with a timed blade stop unit to space the trays before travelling on a 3 metre belt conveyor which presented the trays in a controlled manner for labelling by LF-100 label applicator unit. A fixed position scanner was mounted to the system to check barcode readability & to confirm that the pre-printed labels were applied in the correct paired sequence.
“What impressed me most about Industrial Labelling Systems was their thoroughness in the approach to the problem and to supply a bespoke application that met all our speed and quality requirements, including barcode controls and the ability to cope with the two types of crates – plastic and cardboard.”
“The results have been impressive and the projected payback will be just over 6 months – which is exceptional” says Richard.
The environment in which the machine operates is a busy one and the added bonus with Industrial Labelling Systems was the methodical approach they took to training of the operatives.
Michael Jarmyn, Operation Projects Manager also emphasized how critical the presenation of the side label/picking list was on each tray as it’s positioning is crucial to the operative on the line for speed and accuracy of the picking process, Michael was also impressed with the way Industrial Labelling Systems had individually tailored the system since the initial installation to overcome the idiosyncrasies of the Reynolds operation.
This partnership with Industrial Labelling Systems Ltd again proves how Reynolds Catering dynamic and pioneering approach keeps them at the forefront of Foodservice solutions.
Industrial Labelling Systems Ltd
Tel: 0161 655 4846
Email: info@ilsystems.co.uk
www.ilsystems.co.uk
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