Laser coding for Lipton tea carton packaging

Lipton, a subsidiary of Unilever Foods, recently installed a Markem SmartLase laser coding system on 13 tea packaging lines. Lipton previously used the waxing equipment to mark and code the carton. Because the coding of the waxing equipment was insufficient, the company felt that it was necessary to replace the existing equipment. Wax-based coding may be physically damaged and may be wiped off the packaging. Jonathan Jett-Palmer, Lipton's manufacturing manager, wanted to find a solution that could print time, date, and month of manufacture on the carton. However, he is reluctant to purchase such a device because of the potential toxicity of a solution-based marking system.

After investigating the market, Jett-Palmer installed a MARKEM SmartLase laser coding system. He conducted a one-year observation and evaluation of this system. The system performed well, so he installed 12 SmartLase systems on 12 other packaging lines in the factory, which provided the entire factory with a laser system. The laser encoder accelerated the production speed of Lipton's packaging line, greatly improved the quality of the printed code, did not use toxic ink, and did not require consumables.

Jett-Palmer said: "We want to solve the coding problems that cause customer dissatisfaction, achieve the standardization of the appearance of all the carton codes, and achieve high recognition. The main requirement is accuracy. All date codes on the carton are placed in the same place. We hope that the error does not exceed 1.6mm."

SmartLase laser encoders are low-power carbon dioxide digital systems that can process high-quality, permanent codes quickly. These encoders are compact and provide clear and clear marks and codes. Low operating costs, high reliability, and compact design. There are some other advantages:

â—† The laser coder can be easily installed on most production lines. Because of the small size of the machine, the print heads have a variety of positions, so the machine is easy to install and protect;
â—† With the SmartLase QWERTY user interface, you can print at the desired time and location.
â—† If the installation is properly guarded, the air-cooled CO2 laser is one of the safest coding systems;
â—† System procurement costs are low, integration requirements are simple, so it is easy to accept from the perspective of capital budget;
â—† The use of SmartLase encoders does not require the installation of a PC at the factory. The Markem`s CimControl networking software can be fully integrated into the manufacturing process.

Jett-Palmer said: “We have done many comparisons. This device is small, can be installed in our packaging line, and is easy to install. We value reliability, so let the first device run for a year, There is no problem with the results. The new device is advanced and intuitive, as long as we set up an encoding, the internal clock will set the time and date. Markem helped us to complete the first installation, and the rest of the installation was done by us.”