Leading producer of cheese portions Bel is using Domino C-Series plus outer case coders across its six French manufacturing sites. At its large Lons-le-Saunier site, for example, high quality, 300dpi alphanumeric codes and graphics are printed directly onto secondary packaging on several lines packaging Bel’s Laughing Cow, Apéricube and Pic and Croc products.
Each line has a Domino C6000+ to apply essential date, batch, hour, minute, and line number information. In addition, a Domino M-Series print and apply labeller serves Bel’s pallet labelling requirements, applying ad hoc end-of-line stickers for promotions and money-off offers.
Purchasing manager Philippe Richy says the C-Series plus enables the company to use innovative direct scan-to-print technology for 100% error-free coding that upholds supply chain integrity and guarantees traceability compliance.
“Each of our Domino C6000+ coders is linked directly via an Ethernet cable to a handheld scanner, which reads barcode information from a hard-copy production order,” he says. “This eliminates the need for an operator to manually type in the required data, which inevitably led to the occasional error in the past. The operator simply needs to enter the pallet number and scan the barcode, and the C6000+ does the rest.
“Basically, we avoid the need for a PC and controller linked to the production line, and instead utilise a faster system that is both extremely user-friendly and trustworthy,” he adds. “At the same time, we no longer have to worry about downtime due to coding issues, thanks to the high dependability of the C6000+ coders.”
Bel is currently trialling Domino’s A300+ continuous inkjet printers to fulfill its requirements for small character printing of primary packaging. It is also testing Domino’s high performance S-Series plus lasers.
