A manufacturer’s ability to ensure timely delivery of high-quality products is continually tested by technological advancements and skyrocketing market demands
In the label manufacturing sector, companies rely on next-generation automation and inspection hardware and software offerings to cope with the surge in their customer requirements. Manufacturers are expected to steer away from data complexities and operational inefficiencies that eventually lead to subpar quality and delays in the delivery of end-products.
All photos courtesy of Erhardt + Leimer Inc
Such expectations have motivated many suppliers to continue to make inroads into industrial automation, thereby addressing the aforementioned challenges through a holistic approach to process control. The result: unparalleled customer engagement, and production automation within the label industry.
Critical elements in today’s converter portfolio are categorized as automation and inspection. That can, and does, often include everything from web guiding and tension control systems to defect detection elements, all supported by infrared, optical, ultrasonic sensors and CCD camera technologies that can find the smallest deformities in both the manufacturing line and the end-product.
The term web inspection is truly broken down into several segments: web viewing, print inspection, 100 percent inspection, 200 percent inspection and then higher-end requirements mainly for pharmaceutical and medical applications.
Accountability Stressed
Three main factors are crucial to cementing a reputation for reliability, responsibility and accountability as a supplier to the label industry:
- Machine integration: This is done through easy connection from system to PLC, due to certified interface EtherNet/IP, resulting in a reduction of engineering time. Commissioning wizards and speed setup, via web-based management, facilitates immediate reductions in commissioning times
- Machine operation: This must focus on the highest dynamic brushless drives and fastest sensors to accommodate higher incoming errors/defects, resulting in running the line faster. Controllers can be fully integrated into the human machine interface (HMI), eliminating the need for daily interaction with the systems
- Machine service: This is crucial through remote maintenance and service. Plug-and-play functions on components for auto calibration reduce downtime and at the same time accentuate the need for simple access to your unique system needs for parts for easy online ordering
Web guiding systems now feature an ethernet-based controller and actuator that provides users with unprecedented control over their automation processes.
View, Guide, Control
Web viewing offers the advantage of monitoring a moving web image to align registration quickly and easily. It affords the ability to view areas of the web for color comparison, spot checking, drift, etc. Its primary use is for setup of a production run. It helps operators to quickly make needed adjustments to reduce setup time and waste. Converters can monitor different areas of the web during a run, with tools that are much easier to use than a traditional strobe light. To be appreciated is the ability to zoom in to make fine adjustments. Strobe lights do not serve that function.
Web guiding systems now feature an ethernet-based controller and actuator that provide users with unprecedented control over their automation processes. Coupled with a web inspection system, backed by the same technology and ethernet-based connectivity, newfound web management capabilities through the ethernet controller set printers apart from their contemporaries.
Similarly, tension measurement and tension control systems enable users to measure the tension on load cells. Tension-specific solutions support a variety of load cells, including flange, pillow block and traditional clamp-style load cells.
Another core functionality offered by the tension measurement and control systems is their ability to integrate with multiple amplifier variants—analog, PAD-controlled and the combination of the two—to satisfy various client needs. These offerings support a wide tension-measuring range (0.1-kN. to 10-kN.) and ethernet connectivity to facilitate communication via programmable logic controllers (PLCs).
Inspect & Detect
Moving up from web viewing is print inspection. Being able to have a report for your customers that the product you are supplying them is what they had ordered is a great benefit. A 100 percent print inspection system provides the ability to look at full web width, so nothing is missed. A very quick teach mode helps get the press running to production speed faster, further reducing waste for short and long runs.
The ability to grade defects into categories, to customize the run by what is critical and what is a lower priority is very helpful. To be able to detect defects that are high priority, but let minor ones that are in areas that are not critical go, gives the user a lot of flexibility to customize inspection for their needs and for different products. Having this flexibility is very helpful for printing or finishing materials. Having a defect called out for a slight ink blemish may not be the same as a dirty or damaged plate. This material then becomes a scrap roll.
With the cost of raw material getting to be a major investment, putting any material into the trash bin is very costly. Print inspection will reduce this crucial waste. Having a report on the roll to confirm good product to the end customer is huge. Customers are getting higher and higher graphics and logos, defining company image. Package design and implementation is a higher consideration than ever.
Going to 200 percent print inspection, especially for the label industry, has made a huge difference in reducing product reject. Erhardt + Leimer Inc (E+L) has a product, SMARTSCAN, that will inspect the print and also check for missing labels and damaged labels. Unremoved matrix can also be an issue but with 200 percent inspection, you are evaluating both potential problems at the same time. This double check, inline process reduces waste and rejections at customers to provide high-quality product with a quality report on each roll to confirm acceptance by end users.
Another decisive advantage of the 200 percent inspection becomes evident when checking for substrate defects, such as pinholes, or the inspection of UV inks/varnishes. Compared to the 100 percent inspection, parallel inspection processes can be run through different exposure variants in order to be able to detect all critical defects.
When even more resolution or comparisons to a PDF artwork is required, there are inspection systems that can inspect down to a 4-pt. font. This is usually only required in pharmaceutical and medical to ensure each word is clear and precise. Being able to compare artwork to print is very helpful in the global marketplace. Some verbiage in Chinese, Japanese or Korean can look the same to an operator but be very different when product arrives in a country and the language on the labels or packaging is incorrect.
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