Unique style of small label automatic applicator

Shiseido pioneered the development of an applicator that can complete the workload of five people. As part of the overall packaging line, this machine can even increase production by 25 percentage points.

The finest products are often inseparable from the finest manual operations. In Shiseido USA Operations in East Windsor, New Jersey, the hallmark of quality is the golden pressure-sensitive label. This label spans the container lid of Shiseido's products, and its length ranges from 3.5 or 5.5 mm to 106, 121, or 129 mm; the two labels are wider and have an inverted exclamation mark.

The label fed by the roller is directed downwardly toward the applicator head with the pivot cap, and a pneumatic rotary cutting board is provided on the head to ensure that the tag can be accurately placed in the closed position of the container.

The marketer who pioneered high-end cosmetics called this sign a "guarantee for a genuine seal." This kind of sign has a special tactile sensation that conveys a subtle message to the consumer and makes them feel that it is a graded product.

Until June last year, these tags were carefully and painstakingly hand-crafted. Now, we have begun to use machines to efficiently and quickly paste. This type of machine, which is quickly and accurately attached with a high level of precision and precision, is considered to be the world's first. The successful testing of this kind of machine and the subsequent formal selection was a gratifying event for Shiseido. At the time of the beginning of July, some senior management personnel of Shiseido’s headquarters in Japan also came to the site to participate in the ribbon cutting ceremony of the machine.

Leading the company to complete this project with no shame was Bernard Hvozdovic, head of Shiseido’s US company’s service and storage engineering department. In a visit two weeks later, it told PD that "we are already in the process of preparing a plan to introduce the label applicator to a specific packaging line, and we are discussing the installation of two other applicators to paste "plain seals." One of them also has labels and other properties to the bottom of the container, and can pack upright tubes; the other one is mainly used in cosmetic packaging of Davlyn Corp. [This company is Shiseido in New Jersey. A wholly-owned, tag-affiliated affiliate of Monroe Township."

Unique system

Next to the packaging line, the Alpha Digital Applicator is a TD-700M model from LogoTech. It has a decoding feedback device and is a two-camera device mounted in an 84-inch electric conveyor space. The control level of this machine may be higher than that of military products. It positions the container as required, applies the label material on a foil roll, and then winds the label on a unique location, and then puts these on request. Product is upgraded to a certain position.

The operation of the machine is handled by LogoTech's unique ST-300MD programmable logic controller. The label applicator has several features that specifically address the challenges presented by Shiseido's packaging. The main conveyor of the machine is driven by a follower motor. The follower motor is manufactured by Leeson, model number 098121.00. The linear operation mechanism of the machine is supplied by the WL 150-N122 packaged sensor manufactured by SICK. trigger.

The same sensor is used on the head, and there is also a stepper applicator with a pneumatic swivel plate to remove the label from the 20-mm wide backing. When the container is sent under the head of the applicator, it is first gently gripped by the two sets of applicators to ensure accurate positioning of the container. A swivel cap at the applicator head end ensures that the label is affixed to the top of the container closure.

The only part of the machine that needs to be changed is the fixture. During the PD's stay at the factory, the factory used an applicator to process oblong glass bottles containing 40 ml of Shiseido Benefiance, and stuck 5.5 x 129 mm labels on the edges of unglazed glass bottles.

Still positioning in the lateral direction, move the glass bottle a little distance down to the second set of clamps and then wind the label end. Festo's wiping unit with vertical smear cylinders and valves is activated by an upstream Sick sensor (identical to the above sensors) that is pre-programmed to automatically lift or Lower the container so that the label is completely and firmly wrapped as required.

There are some products sold under the name of Shiseido Benefiance, which is a 15ml Vitality Eye Cream in an oblong glass bottle and a similar 50ml pack massage mask. All three types of bottles were produced by Koa Glass Co. and screen-printed. The top of the bottle was a two-piece threaded, decorated Polypropylene Closure, Yoshida Sangyo Co. provide.

Attached work

The label can also be affixed to a 75 ml daily protective lotion and a 150 ml bottle with a concentrated balance softener, both of which belong to the Shiseido Benefiance line.

Fortunately, the label itself, even the thinnest one, can be used as a decoration and is very durable. The label is made of DuPont's 25-micron-thick Mylar Silver Polyester Fiber. After two relief printing processes, the material will have a golden glittering glow, before embossing and punching. , Made of 16 micron thick polyester film layer. This backing material with a 93-micron thin cellophane layer and a 20-micron PP film is supplied by Cultech, which also offers a relief printing on a 25-micron layer of non-woven polyester fiber. The bottle-based ps tag is used to mark products and print product brands.

Although it is provided on a flat sheet, pasting the exact same gold-wrapped labels is also obsolete. The director of production operations at Shiseido Plant, Thomas Hulligen, recalled, “Our personnel on the packaging line are very good at hand-gluing labels. We teach them all kinds of necessary skills so that we can effectively concentrate all our strengths.” Tell the PD, "In the past we often saw that as many as 9,000 labels could be posted in a shift within seven and a half hours."

Due to the installation of new equipment during the PD visit, Harrigen and Hovdok agreed that they are still in the "rising arc" and the workload of the label applicator is stable at 30 to 34 sheets per minute. Hovdok said: "It was an immediate success. We saw that the output immediately reached 10,000 sheets per class and is currently close to 13,000. The applicator's rated workload is 40 sheets per minute. We don't want the equipment to be full. We don't need to do that at all, we are already far ahead."

The biggest gain

One of the biggest gains in the early days was the deployment of personnel for the packaging line that was preparing to install the label applicator. Hovdok said: “We can equip up to 29 employees on the job line, depending on how many packaging components we have to deal with. Now we are making their skills work and eliminating the need for five tagged people. It is estimated that in terms of this harvest, the applicator's return will be about six months. I have never seen such a good thing before.”

The two leaders of the factory are still looking forward to applying applicators to the packaging line. The production line that was installed at the time when the factory in East Windol was opened five years ago consists of a Japanese-made double-head capacity loader that can handle 10 rounds of circumferential feed and then moves the containers to the single head. Sealing machine with a special fixture that handles decorated container closures with care.

Two custom machines have been added to them. One is the Schäfer Etiketten Combina label applicator, which is used to apply labels to the bottom of containers, and the other is the Jetjet Excel 178i product jet code printer. "It is with this in mind that we have to install a new label applicator," said Harrygan. Maintaining manual operations and still requiring many employees to insert prints and bottles into the lower-level functional organization of the folding box requires the installation of a product applicator; installation of the applicator can immediately increase output.

One of the biggest challenges encountered during the development period is how to handle the smallest container, the 15 ml bottle. "After seeing this kind of bottle, we knew that the length of the label would not allow the bottle edge to be fully enclosed," said Gary Wisner, sales manager at LogoTech Label Systems. “As a result, our design team designed a second clamping device that lifts the bottle from the conveyor so that the coating tool can reach the bottom without touching the conveyor. This change is very important, Because one of the design requirements is that applicator applicators must be able to handle a full set of tags, and they must not change the specifications of these tags."

Visiting the East Windsor factory to discuss the specific details of the applicator was made by Israel's PetTech Tikva's president of LogoTech parent Tadbik Labeling and Marking Systems, Haim Hessman, who told PD: "The design of the TD-700M. The principle of production is an in-depth understanding of the entire industry.The key to determining this system’s technological leadership is that it is a complex that integrates control technology, timing technology, and manufacturing homogeneity into one.In fact, there is no secret at all. There are only new discoveries.”