Coding system aims to increase packaging accuracy
Management Systems aim to offer greater accuracy to the often
endlessly complex field of packaging coding.
The latest enhancements to UK-based Claricom's Package Coding Management Systems aim to offer greater accuracy to the complex field of packaging coding.
The 'Scanpoint Packaging Validation Module' can be used as part of automatic line set-up to ensure that the correct packaging is being used for the selected product, and also offers increased scope for important inspection procedures.
Part of the established CLARiNET product, which allows centralised network control of coding procedures, the new SCANPOINT Module uses portable hand-held barcode reading equipment to confirm the correct use of packaging and materials for the selected job without the need to modify current packaging artwork, claims the company.
More specifically, the software can be used to confirm that the promotional label is correct, or to check the correct correlation between lid and pot, or top label and base label for the given product. In addition, control can be automated to ensure not only the correct label, but also the correct version of artwork appears on the packaging.
Enhancements to the job selection procedure have been implemented to prompt the operator to confirm each item of packaging is correct before the job selection is performed. For example, the operator can be prompted to scan the Secondary Barcode (i.e. the EAN128 barcode) as part of the line set up and the system will confirm both that the correct article no. (Product) barcode is selected, and that the durability date corresponds to the correct primary pack coding, Claricom claims.
This EAN128 validation is especially relevant where case label printing is performed off-line or where labels are printed one or more days in advance. In these situations, it is possible that, although the product code may be correct, the durability date is wrong. The new system module is designed to reduce the scope for errors of this type.
The new module will also allow inspection to be performed at any point during production and therefore allows periodic Quality Assurance inspections to confirm the correct packaging or components as the packaging line is replenished. The modules will not only increase inspection and further eliminate packaging errors, the company claims, but they also provide a log of all on-line inspection for more complete Quality Assurance records.
"The application of Use By Dates, Barcode and other information is a commercial and legal necessity for most packaged goods, from food to pharmaceuticals," explains James Butcher, Managing Director of Claricom. "These enhancements further reduce the scope for costly coding errors, by allowing for a comprehensive checking procedure throughout each production run."
Claricom customers include Dairy Crest, Galen Pharmaceuticals, Geest, Hazlewood Foods, Northern Foods, and Samworth Brothers.
