By James Butcher (B-Eng), Managing Director – Claricom Limited, Claricom Limited - Package Coding Management
SubscribeLeading food manufacturer Cumbrian Seafoods has purchased a Package Coding Management System from Claricom Ltd, in a drive to increase efficiency and eliminate the risk of product recalls due to coding errors.
Legislation and Retailer/Supply Chain requirements dictate that product date and traceability codes are an essential and mission critical part of a manufacturing business.
Errors in product coding cost cash and alienate customers: product recall; rework; lost production; wasted materials and penalties from customers.
The Claricom PCMS, comprising CLARiSOFT Generic Image Design Software and the CLARiNET network, will provide Cumbrian Seafoods with centralised network control of on-pack coding. It provides a logical, rule-based approach to ensure the accuracy of all variable coding data, removing the need for excessive manual data input. This represents greater reliability, flexibility and speed in coding, vital to Cumbrian Seafoods as a major supplier to multiple leading retailers.
Claricom’s Package Coding Management Software (PCMS) cuts the costs of packaging and coding errors to keeps customers happy - Auto-coding systems that combine barcode reading and packaging validation with the automatic set up of coding and labelling equipment to ensure the right product, is in the right packaging, with the correct overprinted information.
It works with all leading makes and models of coding and labelling equipment, enabling plant-wide connection to central I.T. systems, which provides a means to: -
-Centrally manage coding information
-Automatically deploy data to all coding and labelling equipment
-Remove the need for manual input
The cost saving benefits are: -
-Reduced waste
-Increased accuracy
-Increased operating efficiency
Most factories use a number of different brands and technologies of coding equipment to address the different requirements within their operation. Each brand uses its own unique communications protocol, which has until now prohibited successful standard interconnectivity solutions. Claricom has adopted the emerging industry standards for data connectivity and has created independent, standard and proven products that making connectivity solutions practical to implement and maintain, allowing users to continue to buy the most appropriate coding and labelling equipment for a given application.
An important consideration for Cumbrian in choosing Claricom was the open platform. The Claricom system is compatible with all leading makes and models of coding and labelling equipment. This allows Cumbrian to operate the system across its existing Weigh Price Labellers, stand alone Thermal Transfer coders, secondary casing equipment and, more importantly, gives the company freedom of choice in selecting coding equipment in the future.
Claricom products are compatible with equipment from all of the leading coding equipment manufacturers, including: Alpha-Dot, Domino, ICE, Imaje, Linx, Markem, Mectec, TEC, Videojet, Willett, Zebra and more.
“Before making the purchase, we visited an existing Claricom customer to see the software in action,” comments Bob Fleming.“We realised the value of central coding management towards ensuring the right product is in the right pack with the right overprinted information – right first time.”
Claricoms customer base includes leading international Blue Chip manufacturers from convenience food to clinical trials and medical devices and customer include: Cadbury’s, Dairy Crest, Geest, Hazlewood Foods, Nestlé, Northern Foods, Samworth Brothers, Yoplait and more.
Cumbrian Seafoods will use CLARiSOFT Generic Image Design Software to compile and maintain a centralised technical database of PLU (Product Lookup Unit) associated message designs for ten product lines of Herbert and Markem coding equipment. By using a single controlled source of all coding information, duplicate systems or repeated data entry are avoided.
“Accurate coding and central PLU data management is crucial to the success of our production,” explains Bob Fleming, Technical Director at Cumbrian. “Claricom’s system is unique in that it will network many different types of coding equipment to offer the end user freedom of choice on coding.”
Using CLARiSOFT, a set of rules is established to ensure the coding information is always relevant and accurate to the product. This approach also allows flexibility with regard to changes in coding information, such as pricing promotions – simply by amending the criteria, the CLARiSOFT software works out the relevant changes across the product lines.
In addition, all of the coding information is managed off-line, further reducing the scope for errors and ensuring consistent coding across all lines.
Cumbrian Seafoods has also purchased a CLARiNET network to automatically set up all the primary coders and secondary outer case markers. CLARiNET allows operators to use portable SCANPOINT barcode readers to confirm that the correct product and PLU has been selected for a particular line.
All the correct information is then sent automatically to the coding equipment from the secure technical database; this includes the date coding, description and the format the printed information should take. This method reduces the scope for manual PLU error and provides an easy-to-use, faster and more efficient set-up.