Clearmark Solutions has partnered with the enterprising Vocation Brewery to install its first ICE Vulcan print and apply labelling system at the Halifax factory , guaranteeing to meet GS1 criteria
ICE Vulcan Labeller finds its Vocation in craft beer market
Clearmark Solutions has partnered with the enterprising Vocation Brewery to install its first ICE Vulcan print and apply labelling system at the Halifax factory , guaranteeing to meet GS1 criteria , saving on cost , waste and increasing turnover through quicker print runs to label boxes of beer for shipment to the top five UK multiples .
Last year , with sales of craft beers soaring due to lockdown restrictions when the nation ’ s drinking habits became home-based 1 , Vocation Brewery had to look at new , faster ways of applying labels to their boxes whilst being compliant with GS1 regulations . Previously , labels were printed using a 56 FDPP - www . fdpp . co . uk desktop printer and applied by hand , meaning the process was slow and the labels were not always clearly printed or positioned in a neat , uniform way . Now with the investment in the ICE Vulcan print and apply labeller , the cost to label each box of craft beer has dropped by an incredible 90 %, costing the brewery just half a penny per label . Print speeds can reach over 120ppm with a label capacity of 17,000 labels , more than twice the capacity of other labelling systems .
Since John Hickling established Vocation Brewery in a rebuilt chicken shed in 2015 , it has gone from strength to strength , successfully employing 60 staff , selling up to 14 million cans per year . Vocation Brewery won its first listing in Tesco stores in 2016 and now supplies standard and bespoke product lines to multiple retailers including Asda , Sainsbury ’ s , Waitrose , Booths and Marks & Spencer .
The ICE Vulcan print and apply labelling system has a non-pneumatic ‘ air-less ’ design using a unique direct apply method which allows for extremely accurate label placement without the need for an applicator . The system boasts Intelligent Motion™ technology which enables precise automatic control of components and an 80 % reduction of wear parts that traditionally caused unexpected downtime and cost .