Effective coding assured for French drinks giant

The Castel Group has installed nine Linx IJ350 large character coders to ensure effective coding without losing productivity in the face of tough technical demands.

The machines are installed on nine production lines operating at varying temperatures, coding 30 boxes per minute with EAN128 barcodes. Coding takes place in parallel to the conveyor and before automatic palletisation. The method and speed of printing meant the ink had to dry quickly to prevent it migrating between the boxes during palletisation.

Production costs and stoppages for maintenance needed to be kept to a minimum, to maximise the productivity of each line. The Linx IJ350 is ideal for printing large characters in high quality on porous materials such as cardboard. The integrated error-free coding software guides the operator through the process of choosing the message to be printed, minimising the risk of mistakes.

The Linx IJ350 is compact, making it easy to integrate and simple to use without interrupting production, thanks to its detachable touchscreen. Production costs are lowered due to the automatic cleaning technology with micro priming. The Linx IJ350 does not need regular print head priming, changes or cleaning, or warm-up time.

Mr Lefort, Director of the Castel Chapelle Heulin site, says: “We needed a machine that was compact enough to be integrated in our production lines and that was easy to learn and use. There could not be any extra production costs from using it and any breaks in production due to maintenance could not be too serious. "We chose the IJ350 because of its technical features and economy."

Created in 1949 at Bordeaux by nine Castel brothers and sisters from a wine selling business, the Castel Group has become one of the world’s main players in the wine, beer and fizzy drinks sector. The group expanded by creating bottling centres, then buying vineyards. This expansion continued through the successive purchase of regional, national and then international businesses in the sector. So, the Castel group became owner of the biggest chain of specialist wine cellars. www.groupe-castel.com when it bought Nicolas in 1988.

Source: http://www.linxglobal.com