Dan Sutcliffe-Tasker , Head of Packaging , Vocation Brewery , said : “ Growth in supermarket chains and orders for seasonal and one-off product lines has seen production increase to 60,000 hectolitres this year , up from 10,000 when we first started , that ’ s approximately 12-14million cans this year .”
Since the ICE Vulcan was installed in March , accuracy has improved dramatically with no issues .
“ Everything sent to the retailer has to be boxed and labelled . We produce about 30 pallets a day , with 100 or 200 cases on each pallet . Anything other than our core brand has to have a custom label on it . Since automating our labelling process we ’ ve had zero defects - the ICE Vulcan print and apply system is 100 % foolproof and in hindsight we should have automated sooner .”
With Vocation launching pale ale specials such as Tr-hop-ical in a short time frame , Vulcan ’ s quick changeover , flexibility and print and placement accuracy came into its own . Vocation had to accurately label generic boxes which met GS1 specifications for warehouse use and transit . Prior to installing the ICE Vulcan , Vocation used a desktop thermal printer and then hand applied the labels , which was a laborious job . With the release of 51 new products last year , Vocation had to up their ante and find a more accurate and efficient labelling method .
The ICE Vulcan has in built tutorials to help operators perform functions such as changing the print head , thermal transfer ribbon and label reel with built in print save options which means no ribbon is wasted in between prints .
Vocation compared systems but were most impressed with Clearmark ’ s unique direct apply application rather than a blown on label which can create creased labels . Thanks to a height adjustable stand , the system can accommodate changes to box size in just a few seconds .
“ The main concern for us was individual placement of the label . There is no way a human operator can stand there on an eight-hour shifts and hit the same mark every time , especially when things were operating so quickly . We needed stability and guaranteed repeatability that automation is known for ,” added Dan .
“ Since the ICE Vulcan was installed in March , accuracy has improved dramatically with no issues . The print quality is also of a higher standard as the desktop printer ink sometimes faded due to condensation on the craft board from the temperature , turning the black print grey . But we have had no issues like that with the ICE Vulcan ”.
The project took just 10 weeks to
complete from initiation to installation . Thanks to surveys and CAD drawings , the small footprint ICE Vulcan slotted into the existing factory layout with little disruption to production . The ICE Vulcan has allowed them to meet the demands posed by the increase of orders both online and via supermarket distribution .
Dan concludes : “ The feedback from clients both externally and internally in the shop and warehouse , is that the products are much easier to identify now everything has a uniform label on it . We had to pass a Marks and Spencer transit trial to scan the barcodes individually before we sent the boxes and we passed it with flying colours . Everything meets GS1 global standards for barcodes , which has encoded information such as product numbers , serial numbers and batch codes as well as product descriptions ”.
It is not the first time Clearmark has supplied its ICE Vulcan print and apply labelling solution to a craft beer brewery and since this latest installation it has received a number of calls from other breweries expressing interest in the Vulcan print and apply system .
1 https : / www . theguardian . com / business / 2020 / jul / 21 / uk-grocery-sales-covid-19-outbreak-localshops
www . clearmark . uk
In the early days Vocation had 26 pallets returned as a result of incorrect barcodes and human error , causing the brewer to re-call and re-label the goods , which was both time consuming and costly . With the ICE Vulcan system , using CLARiSOFT™ label design software , labels are designed and programmed for the operator to select using the CLARiTY operator touchscreen . CLARiTY allows operators to select the job from a list or preprogrammed jobs , eliminating operator intervention and human error .
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 .
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