Production costs, waste and SKUs are something that affect anyone in the packaging industry. Linx Printing Technology shows you how operational efficiency in packaging production lines can be improved through the use of direct coding technology.

1. Reducing Production costs, SKUs & Waste
Through Efficient Coding & Marking Techniques
Jason Remnant – Linx Product Manager

2. Today’s challenges
Customer
Supply Chain
Functional
Code integrity
Durability
Internal Requirements
Content driven by:
Reliability
Consumer
Marketing
Legislation
Line Efficiency
Ease of process
Legislation
Regulatory
Waste targets

3. Overall Equipment Effectiveness
• Reducing production costs, stock keeping units and waste through
efficient processes can also be captured in the more common
terminology of Overall Equipment Effectiveness or (O.E.E.)
• The 3 most common categories of manufacturing productivity losses
are:
– Availability
– Performance
– Quality
• OEE combines these into one score that provides a complete
measure of manufacturing efficiency and effectiveness

4. Today’s challenges
• OEE’s six big losses:
–
–
–
–
–
–
Breakdowns
Setup and adjustments
Small stops
Reduced Speed
Startup rejects
Production rejects
All directly
impact
production
costs

5. Introducing ‘SureLiquids’ bottling plant
• The plant bottles fluids, packs, and applies product
identification
• One of the product
bottling lines produces
around 1500 boxes of
product a day
• 10+ types of different product
• 50+ types of different labels

6. SureLiquids – the team
Ben – Plant Manager
….And you guessed it…
It’s going to be a bad day!
Shaun – Operator
John – Operator

7. A possible day in SureLiquids bottling plant
• 08:00
– Ben, the plant manager arrives
and starts the equipment up
– Shaun checks the worksheet for
the day and selects the label stock
– He then customises the label
stock appropriately for the boxes
with thermal transfer label printer

8. A possible day in SureLiquids bottling plant
• 08:30
– The labels are passed through
to John in the warehouse
– John loads them into his label
dispenser
• 08:35
– Production begins and boxes
start to arrive in the warehouse
– John starts labelling his boxes

9. A possible day in SureLiquids bottling plant
• 10:35
– Ben identifies that two pallets have
been completed with the wrong
labels which is nearly 228 boxes
incorrectly labelled
• 10:40
– Mark has to get the mislabelled
product down from the rack

10. A possible day in SureLiquids bottling plant
• 10:40
– Ben gets Shaun to reprint another
228 labels
• 11:00
– John manually applies correct
labels over the old ones
• 11:30
– Ben and the team can get back to
normal production

11. A possible day in SureLiquids bottling plant
• 14:30
– Ben receives an urgent priority
order for a different fluid
– Ben pulls Shaun away to print
new labels
– Shaun goes off and collects new
label stock for the new product
and again uses the thermal
transfer label printer
• 15:05
– Ben is able to switch production
over to the new product

12. A possible day in SureLiquids bottling plant
• 17:35 Shutdown and cleanup
– 225m of label backing waste
– 32 labels from setup disposed of
– Team earned 1hr of O.T.

13. A possible day in SureLiquids bottling plant
• John’s end of day management
report
– 10 minutes of fork lift support
– 228 new labels printed
– 30 minutes of additional label
printing
– 1 man hour of manual re-labelling

14. SureLiquids Efficiency, Waste & SKUs
• SureLiquids clearly have opportunities for improving:
– Efficiency
– Waste reduction
– Stock keeping unit reduction
• Linx would propose that SureLiquids use a direct
printing solution, rather than label print and apply
solution.
• Label print compared to direct printing solutions for
boxes and cases…….

15. Label Print and Apply (LPA)
• Not a continuous technology,
adding consumables means
stopping printing:
– Requires replacement ribbons
– Requires label stock
• Thermal printer heads need
replacing:
– SureLiquids replace 4 per year
– £100’s per replacement
• To try and manage SKUs, multiple
languages were combined on the
label by using a small font;
• Print quality rapidly deteriorates
as thermal printer heads age
– Difficult for customer to read

16. Direct printing
• Can be a continuous technology,
adding consumables whilst
printing;
– Just add ink
• No printhead replacements:
– Little service & downtime
– Little associated costs
• Print quality can be maintained
automatically
• Product identification updated on an
as-required basis in seconds
• Print what you need when you
need it – minimise SKUs.

17. What about you?
• Have you or your company considered moving away
from a label print and apply product identification
process, to a direct print identification process?
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–
–
–
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Yes, we did it and get the benefits from the change
Yes, we did it but are not getting the benefits
Yes, but it’s not appropriate for us
No, we have not but may consider it in the future
No, we have no appropriate interest
• Please select your answer from the poll

18. Improving Efficiency, Reducing SKUs & Waste
• Reducing process complexity
– Direct print onto cases or boxes
• Direct printing
–
–
–
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Removes labels
Removes label applicator
Reduces changeover times
Reduces waste

19. Improving Efficiency, Reducing SKUs & Waste
• Error-free coding
Scanning the product’s barcode selects the design format and/or printed
information from a database
No user input or selection required. Removes risk of typing errors, incorrect data
and look-up errors.
Can cross reference against production log to ensure all is correct

20. Improving Efficiency, Reducing SKUs & Waste
• Removing errors
Product name pulled
from database from
fluid reference
Barcodes linked to
other data fields and
change appropriately
Graphics/warning
logos automatically
chosen from
database and display
as appropriate
Warning text auto
filled appropriate to Associated additional
information updated
product
Use by date automatically
calculated with offset rule

21. Improving Efficiency, Reducing SKUs & Waste
• Reduce label SKUs
The text in this box is automatically
filled and appropriate for this product
and does not need to be squeezed in
to allow for different languages
This area may contain more text and so the message
can be lengthened in order to accept. It does not
require the need to shrink the font, making it still
readable for the customer. More words and text and
information that the other example
•Rapidly customise text upon demand
•Label size limits message content
•Direct print provides ability to enlarge the print area
•No requirement for different or excessive label sizes
•Clever printer software using message templates rather than multiple
message designs

22. Improving SureLiquids Efficiency
• Availability – downtime:
– Recovery from coding errors – diversion of resource
– Poor ability to react to sudden production demands or changes
– Label production is batch produced
• Performance – slow cycles:
– Manual label application bottle-necks process
– Thermal label printer non continuous technology
• Quality:
– Coding errors, waste labels, potential reject batches from
customer with potential fines

23. ‘6 big losses’ of LPA versus direct printing
Big Losses
Current
Optimised
Breakdown opportunities
Label printer, label
applicator
Direct printer only
Setup & adjustment
Manual, label content,
printing and positioning
Digitally adjust
Small stop causes
Label printer consumable None
changes, label changes
& operator breaks
Reduced speed
Manual process = 12
boxes/min maximum
Direct printer = 60 boxes
per minute maximum
Startup rejects
30 labels
None
Production rejects due to Potentially (228 boxes)
setup
None

24. How efficient are your coding & marking techniques?
• Linx has a wide range of direct, digital, coding and
marking solutions designed for reducing production
costs
• Please chat now or contact us if you would like to
know more about how and where direct printing might
be able to help your business
• Thank you for listening, please ask questions!