Around five years ago, the East Westphalian company Bad Meinberger Mineralbrunnen GmbH & Co. KG took over the bottling of Thomas Henry products. For the export of the various products, 55 country-specific labelling and packaging specifications have to be taken into account. The fully automatic control system is a particular challenge here.
With the goal, Preserving drinking water for sailors, the pharmacist invented Thomas Henry In the middle of the 18th century the Soda water. That's why he gave his name to the Berlin-based Thomas Henry GmbH & Co. KG, which has been producing premium bitter lemonades since 2010. Soda water and various tonics, ginger ale, ginger beer and lemonades from Thomas Henry are now used worldwide as the basis for high-quality and innovative cocktails and long drinks.
The „Staatlich Bad Meinberger Mineralbrunnen“ has been pumping water from the Teutoburg Forest since 1767 and now produces more than 130 million units of its own beverages every year. „At the beginning of the cooperation, we bottled around four million bottles a year for Thomas Henry,“ recalls Volker Schlingmann, the management spokesman at Bad Meinberger. „That figure has now increased tenfold.“
Packaging line only for the export of Thomas Henry
„The distribution of Thomas Henry products was becoming increasingly complex,“ explains Bianca Blome, responsible for operational control and technical administration at Bad Meinberger. „We then decided, a dedicated packaging line for export only to purchase.“ With the installation of this system, the marking, packaging, labelling and palletising of 13 different articles for 55 export countries in two different outer packaging variants was to be fully automated. The fully automated control of these processes was transferred to the „Bluhmware“ software from labelling provider Bluhm Systeme GmbH in Rheinbreitbach.
Firstly, the experts at Bluhm connected all the modules integrated in the packaging system to the Bluhmware and networked them with each other. These include, for example, scanners, robots, unpackers, labellers, laser markers, printers, sensors, camera inspection systems, label print dispensers and palletisers. On the basis of a Database in the background Bluhmware not only controls these individual devices, but also transmits the relevant print data to the labelling systems.
Bluhmware controls all modules
The Thomas Henry products are filled, front-labelled and temporarily stored for a short time. If an order is received from abroad, the respective EAN code of the product is scanned in. The Bluhmware guides the operator quickly and safely through the menu on the PC. The production date, order quantity, destination country and packaging type (carton or tray) are selected one after the other.
The software automatically searches the stored database, which includes all article numbers, product descriptions, best-before dates based on the filling data, packaging types and country-specific features, and determines the relevant combination.
The line is ready to go
The combination of article number, EAN code, language, control code for camera monitoring, shipping mode, tare weight and palletisation scheme is to all devices in the packaging line transmitted. This not only the systems of various suppliers The print data is simultaneously transferred to Bluhm's own devices.
The individual bottles are labelled with a country-specific back label and labelled using a laser or inkjet printer. The products then pass through a camera inspection station, where not only the correctness and position of the label are checked, but also the labelling applied in conjunction with the relevant EAN code. Products that are not correctly labelled or marked are rejected at this point.
Four-sided carton labelling
The bottles continue on the conveyor belt to the packing machine, where they are packed either in cartons or trays. These packaging units are then labelled by several Legi-Air 4050 E label printing dispensers from Bluhm Country-specific labelling. To do this, the Bluhmware transmits the information about where which label with which content should be placed. „Some customers want labels on all four sides,“ explains Bianca Blome. This is why some of the label print dispensers have been equipped with a linear dispensing stroke and 90-degree rotary applicator. This allows them to swivel around and label several pages in quick succession. To ensure that no damage occurs, the Contactless labelling.
GS1-compliant pallet labelling
A robot then places the packaging units according to the palletising scheme. The pallets are wrapped in film and provided with GS1-compliant labels by the AP 180 pallet labeller from Bluhm Systeme. The specification stipulates two-sided labelling, but labels could also be applied to three sides of the pallet.
„We chose the AP 180 because we have very little space here at the palletising station,“ recalls Bianca Blome. For the very small operating radius, the swivelling arm was fitted with a belt applicator that is moved electronically. The stamp plate can rotate 180 degrees on the spot. „When the applicator dips between the closely spaced pallets and applies the labels, it always reminds me of a robot,“ adds Bianca Blome.
A line scanner has been integrated into the dispensing stamp of the AP 180, which checks the label immediately after application. This check relates not only to the mere presence of the label, but also to the legibility and accuracy of the SSCC barcode. It also determines whether the respective pallet has been assigned to the correct destination. While the pallets are being transported to outgoing goods, Bluhmware reports to the Bad Meinberg warehouse management software where which pallet with which batch is being sent. This allows the products to be booked out correctly.
Thomas Henry also had long journeys in mind when he invented soda water. If he had known what he was setting in motion ...
