Labeling Innovations from Weber

Jeff Hausen, our QA manager, explained that to me the need to expand inspection capabilities.
“Historically, manual inspection methods and sampling plans have been effective in supplying quality products to meet our customers’ needs,” said Jeff. “Customer expectations, however, are changing and are becoming more demanding, whether to accommodate streamlined production processes or increased regulations.”

This means more labeling printing jobs require extra inspection, specifically, 100 percent inspection.

We’re excited to announce that we’ve expanded our inspection equipment to include six computerized inspection units, which gives us increased capabilities for 100 percent inspection.

How They Work

With a computerized vision system on press, an operator will be able to detect any label defect immediately – and know exactly how many labels were affected. This also will increase productivity because we’ll be able to catch the defects before the rewind process and eliminate a second press set-up process to replace defective labels.

And by identifying and fixing any problems as they occur, we will be able to reduce both scrap and cost. This makes it a green manufacturing solution that we’re excited to use!

When it comes to working with pharmaceutical, food and medical labels, there is no room for error. These customers need to meet government regulations set by the FDA that ensure that the product they put on the shelves is clearly marked with health and safety information.

Our customers need to be able to meet ever-changing FDA regulations, international market regulations and meet the demands of their customers. Knowing this, Weber has made improved inspection quality a major priority.

Why is inspection important?

Our goal is to always produce the best product for our customer. The first step for this is always the quoting and proof process. Once we have a proof from the customer, we must make sure that the product we send them matches the specs requested on the proof. Making sure the material is right for the application, the barcodes are all readable and text is clear, is all a part of the inspection proof and inspection process.

While there’s no way to completely eliminate press errors, we can work with equipment to detect the errors and make sure they’re not sent to the customer. The inspection process is crucial for ensuring a quality product for the customer.

Weber Packaging Solutions has made big moves towards sustainability in the last year.

Our first step was to reduce the use of disposable water bottles by our employees. Our old water fountains were replaced with three purification water coolers from Ambius Hydrofresh.

We just posted a brand new video on our Model 4300 Pro-Apply label printer-applicator. Here are some highlights of what you’ll learn:

We opened up the February 2012 issue of Packaging World magazine to find a really nice article on Howard Products’ use of a Weber labeling system and prime labels to label its line of preeminent wood care products.

The combination of our Tronics 3 system and Weber digitally-printed, pressure-sensitive labels provides Howard Products with packages that have great shelf-appeal and an updated labeling operation that will pay for itself within 18 months.

Link to our website for in-depth information on the features, benefits and specifications of the Tronics Series 3 label application system from Weber. And while you’re at it, take a look at the videos available there, as well.

Thanks to Howard Products for letting us visit its facility in Paso Robles, CA, to document the Weber system and labels in action!

Packaging pros got a pre-introduction sneak peek at our all-new Alpha Compact pressure-sensitive label applicator back in September at the big Pack Expo show in Las Vegas.

The economically-priced unit, which features a small footprint yet employs the highly-accurate wipe-on method to affix p-s labels to packages right on the production line, proved to be crowd-pleaser in our booth. And now that the Alpha Compact is ready for delivery, we just recently distributed an email blast introducing the applicator to thousands of our customers.

Wow. The response has been overwhelming, as hundreds of curious people have taken a closer look at the Alpha Compact on our website. Here are some of the features they’re reading about:

• Applies label up to 4.7” wide and 11.8” long
• Speeds along at up to 164 feet/minute
• Labels tops, bottoms or sides of packages
• Provides accurate placement to within ±0.03”

And, of course, we’re making the ruggedly constructed unit available in both right- and left-hand models.

So, if you’re interested in a cost-efficient solution to really terrific p-s labeling, take a look at the Alpha Compact wipe-on label applicator.