Dirol Cadbury sets coding quality standard with Domino

Following an installation of over 40 Domino coders, gum manufacturer Dirol, part of the Cadbury Corporation, is enjoying significantly lower maintenance and consumable costs on their production lines.

This was one of the company’s key requirements when they decided to update their coding equipment, and as this was met so successfully, an order for a further five coders, which will be installed before the end of 2010, has now been placed.

“We experienced significant reliability and maintenance issues with our previous coding equipment and as the running costs were also very high, we decided to investigate different coding options from other suppliers,” says a Dirol spokesman. “Laser coding seemed like a suitable alternative, so we took an in depth look at various systems that could potentially meet our requirement to reproduce codes on primary foil packaging as well as multi-pack cartons. We ran benchmarking trials and undertook detailed examination of code samples, based on which Domino’s D-Series coders stood out as the best choice for Dirol.”

The initial installation saw 10 Domino systems – five 30 watt models for primary coding and five 10 watt models for coding onto carton multipacks – integrated onto production lines with a mix of GIMA and SAPAL packaging equipment. The 30 watt coders are coding alphanumeric variable data – a production line code, manufacturing and expiry date – onto coloured foil at around 100 packs/minute.

The spokesman continues: “We have been impressed by the Domino lasers’ sharp and clear marking from day one. And, as there’s now much less need for maintenance, we are not only saving a considerable amount of money on consumables, but also through the massive reduction in downtime.”

Domino’s laser coders have now been integrated onto all Dirol’s older packaging lines, where several primary foil lines feed into a single multi-pack carton packer. For this, the D-Series lasers were fitted with an axial beam output to accommodate intermittent coding.

The D-Series is ideal for marking consistent, permanent clear codes onto a variety of substrates including paper, cartons, plastics and glass, while also responding to the widespread migration from linear barcodes to 2D codes for unique identification. At the same time, workflow is upheld, thanks to its ability to code across a wide range of production speeds in a variety of fonts from 0.5mm to 180mm high.

“The support we’ve received from Domino has been second to none,” the spokesman concludes. “They have proved to be the experts in their field and we are confident that they are providing us with the best possible service and solution, and will continue to do so in the future.”

Source: Cadbury