Logopak International has developed a long-reach print & apply labeller to allow food and drink manufacturers to meet new demands for bar code labels on three rather than the conventional two sides of each pallet.
These new demands, which follow the introduction of side-load pallet handling trucks at a major retail distribution hub in the south of England, require an additional label on the long edge of the pallet, close to the back, to give drivers easy access for data scanning.
“With these side-load fork trucks the back of the pallet is to the side of the driver who is unable to reach either of the conventional adjacent side labels applied at the front of the pallet,” explains Logopak UK general manager Wilson Clark. A pallet turntable solution was ruled out on grounds of layout and speed.
“So, in addition to placing the adjacent side labels at the front of the pallet, the applicator arm of the Logopak 920PFR unit is able to travel 1300mm down the side, placing a third label towards the back, diagonally opposite the two other labels.”
This third label can be reached easily by the fork truck driver and data scanned into the warehouse management system via a hand-held wand.
The telescopic extension arm, which carries the label application pad, has been engineered by Logopak with linear bearings to resist deflection and maintain accuracy of label placement at high operating speeds.
In the first installation of the 920PFR machine, at a breakfast cereals factory, two have been mounted one above the other to handle 85 double stacked pallets an hour. This arrangement, says Wilson Clark, provides much higher speed and reliability than lift systems that raise and lower a single labeller to handle one pallet then the next.
Logopak International Limited
Tel: 01904 692333
Email: salesonweb@logopak.net
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