UK converter invests in five Surfscan inspection systems

UK label manufacturer Systems Labelling has invested in five CHECKpress web inspection systems from Surfscan Technologies on four Mark Andy 8-color 4150 presses and one Comco press. 

The systems, which were configured utilizing 200 hours of programming time by Surfscan’s development team to meet the label company’s precise requirements, will be fully operational before the end of May 2008.

One hundred percent validated inspection is more than a technical requirement at the Deeside, Wales-based company, it has a positive sales and marketing benefit, as sales director Tony Exford explains: ‘Quality lies at the heart of everything we do here. When I explain to our customers and potential customers the sophistication of the Surfscan system they are rightly impressed. By offering 100 percent validated inspection it takes the issue of poor quality out of the equation and underpins our own quality claims. It is, in fact, a very important element in our sales pitch. And you can’t argue with that.’

‘Our programming team is probably the only one in the world capable of writing such programs,’ claims Surfscan Technologies general manager, Damian Harvey. ‘And I doubt if many of our competitors would have been prepared to put this level of work in. But it is this that makes the difference.’

Systems Labelling once owed 70 percent of its turnover to the milk label production business but decided to diversify and invested in a Dixon coater, a management information system and platesetters from Kodak. Now, milk labels account for 35 percent of its current 10m turnover while the company now produces around two billion labels a year covering in-mold, no label look, 36-40 micron wrap, board printing and compostable.

The bespoke MIS has been refined so that it streamlines the entire business, from order intake and customer contact to the programming of work patterns and priorities on the presses – even to scheduling dispatch.

Part of the reason for the selection of the CHECKpress system was its ability to dovetail with the MIS, even producing roll maps on the presses and then conducting final checks on a series of Arpeco and Scantech rewinders via an Ethernet connection.

One of the many spin-off benefits of the CHECKpress, according to Systems Labelling, is waste reduction. The CHECKpress has been programmed to measure the density of ink using its grayscale value and this enables advance warning of ink run out to be given which in turn saves operator time.