Allergen management is increasingly important in the food packaging industry. Manufacturers should be extra careful to avoid label confusion incidents to avoid costly recalls and potential liability issues. To this end, Kraft Foods Canada scans each label after it has been applied to the packaging line to ensure it matches the package content.
Previously using a laser scanner to check the company's sand tea sauce products, there will be reading errors, especially when switching new products with different label positions. The technician must immediately go to the production line to adjust the position of the barcode scanner and place the new label. In the center of the laser path, otherwise the scanner will have a lot of missed readings.
Kraft's switch to the image-based DataMan 300 barcode reader solves this problem by reading any label within the 5x5 inch field of view without any adjustments.
Dave ForTIn, a food technician at St. Laurent Kraft, Quebec, Canada, said: The DataMan 300 bar code reader saves the customer's interest by ensuring the accuracy of the label while maintaining the customer's benefits.
Kraft Foods produces biscuits, confectionery, beverages, cheeses, snacks and convenience foods in more than 170 countries around the world using Cadbury, Jacobs, Kraft, LU, Maxwell House, Milka, Nabisco, Oreo, Oscar Mayer, Philadelphia, Tang and Trident And other brands. Kraft’s 2011 revenue of $54.4 billion is a leader in the Canadian product packaging industry. Its origins can be traced back to James Stevensville, Ontario. Louis? Kraft.
Difficult reading challenge
The sand tea sauce line at the St. Lauren plant in Quebec produces more than 30 different stock products (SKUs) at speeds of up to 265 bottles per minute. Since some products contain ingredients such as mushrooms and eggs, they may cause allergic reactions to some customers, so it is important to ensure that the labels of each package are accurate. When changing the production line to produce different SKU numbers, the corresponding label needs to be manually loaded onto the filling machine.
However, this can happen when the machine operator loads the wrong label or accidentally mixes several incorrect labels. To solve this problem, Kraft initially deployed a laser barcode scanner that reads the one-dimensional barcodes on each label and sends the results to a programmable logic controller (PLC) running the machine. The programmable logic controller compares the code to the appropriate value and, if the code is wrong, rejects the product from the packaging line.
The problem with laser scanners is that they can only read code from a small field of view. When the label is changed to a new SKU, the location of the code may vary slightly depending on the design. Therefore, it is necessary to adjust the laser scanner every time the product is replaced, which consumes a lot of time of the technician team, and even when the laser scanner is placed accurately, it often misses reading.
Technical team members often need to adjust one-dimensional laser scanners, often spending a lot of effort to find the reasons for missing reading. ForTIn said: “They often ask my team to adjust the reader. Because of these requirements, it is difficult for our team to perform other duties. The production team spends a lot of time checking each product missed by the scanner to determine if the product label is correct. of."
Use image-based technology
The basic principle behind image-based technology is that the reader captures the image and processes the image using a series of algorithms that make it easy to read. A typical algorithm from Cognex can search the code in the entire image, identify the position and orientation of the code, and easily read it. Other algorithms can handle code quality degradation due to material type and surface conditions.
The 2DMax+ algorithm is also upgraded on existing 2DMax technology, with tremendous capacity enhancements to handle damaged, poorly labeled or severely disabled code on high-speed production lines.
The DataMan 300 Series offers the flexibility to choose between integrated and controllable modular lighting and optical components. Users can purchase a model and select the appropriate lens to meet the required working distance and vision requirements. Controllable, field-replaceable lighting modules help users establish optimal component lighting conditions to ensure the highest read rates.
Nearly perfect code reading
Kraft first replaced a laser scanner with a DataMan 300 reader on the sand tea sauce line. From the date of installation, the image-based code reader virtually eliminates read failures with a read rate of 99.9%. Since there are four legs, Kraft's production line requires four bar code readers. Later, the company replaced all laser scanners on the other three production lines with DataMan 300. Read performance can still reach more than 99.9%. Since no adjustments are required, the technician does not need to adjust the position of the reader when the product is switched.
ForTIn can install and set up the DataMan 300 reader itself. He installed the reader using a cloud gantry that was purchased with the reader. He connects the reader to the computer, adjusts the camera's light and focus, and connects the reader to the programmable logic controller via Ethernet. The camera supports all popular programmable logic controller communication protocols. The photo inspector on the checkpoint provides a signal to the programmable logic controller, such as a bottle in the station waiting to be checked.
The programmable logic controller directs the bar code reader to capture the image, and the bar code reader sends the code to the programmable logic controller. If the code does not match the product being produced on the line, the programmable logic controller will send the bottle to the Remove the conveyor belt. ForTIn only takes 2 hours to get a set of DataMan.