Regulation and costs vie to drive innovation

18 February 2014



Label application is one of the basic necessities for most packaged products. In recent times new regulatory requirements have been driving developments in machinery, as much as environmental and cost factors. Andrew Manly takes a look at some of the latest thinking and innovations.


If ever a packaging sector could be said to be at the cutting edge of a regulatory revolution, then labels and label applicators are it.

The demands for clearer labelling on food, serialisation, track & trace and condition monitoring - to name a few - have had profound effects not only on the design of labels, but the technology used to produce and apply them. At the same time cost is still a key factor in deciding what system to use.

In particular the pharmaceutical sector is demanding ever more accountability from its labelling.

John Clayton, long-time managing director at Newman Labelling explains: "The pharmaceutical industry is constantly being influenced by the regulatory authorities, and the current drive for serialised track & trace solutions and enhanced software security has dominated recent machine developments.

"The labelling of containers within the pharmaceutical industry remains the critical and unambiguous identification of the product," Clayton adds, "as opposed to the process of decorating and promoting containers common within the food, personal care and
chemical industries."

Security integration
So leading manufacturers of pharmaceutical standard labelling systems are striving to ensure that their control systems for automated self-adhesive labelling machinery are robust enough to allow for the integration of printing systems and vision-based
verification systems, in compliance with the European Falsified Medicines Directive, as well as the US E-pedigree legislation, together with numerous other initiatives worldwide, all of which are striving to reduce incidents of counterfeit products.

These complex requirements have also highlighted the need for stricter control of software development and control of electronic
signatures. The US Food & Drug Administration's demand for compliance with 21CFR Part 11, coupled with the GAMP5 Guidelines, all emphasise the differentiated nature of pharmaceutical labelling, in contrast with what is required by most other industries.

One company responding to this need for better security labelling is Travtec, which has extended its range of equipment capable
of meeting the requirements of the recent Falsified Medicines Directive with the introduction of a new tamper-evident labelling system.

The Travtec Labello 3 applies non-resealable clear labels to both openings of a carton, and also has the capacity to affix the special bollini or vignette labels required for pharmacist dispensed drugs in the Italian and French markets respectively.

The system comprises a precision multi-belt conveyor with a synchronised top hold down belt that keeps cartons firmly in place while they are presented to the label applicators. A series of label heads then places the clear labels over each opening and any additional label on the front face of the pack.

The transparent labels feature a special adhesive that securely seals the carton, but which becomes inactive once the label is peeled back for the first time, to provide effective visual evidence if a product has been interfered with during the distribution process.

This meets the second key requirement of the Falsified Medicines Directive, which also specifies that all packs must include a serialised 2D Datamatrix code.

Cost and flexibility
Dieter Leykamm, divisional manager, labelling technology at Krones AG, believes: "With the number of creative ideas for product development in the beverage industry, new dressing techniques are faced with a continual stream of new requirements. Additionally numerous bottlers are adopting a market segmentation strategy geared to consumer preferences."

This directly affects the choice of label dress, and demands a high degree of flexibility from the technology, he says.

"This is why more and more clients are demanding that a labeller should really be able to do everything: reel-fed labelling for the basic products and upmarket dress for premium products; in contoured bottles, for example, or containers featuring embossed elements in conjunction with sleeves."

The combination of Krones' modularised labeller with a directly integrated sleeving machine enables these requirements to be met with a single machine. The DecoBloc provides all the options of classical labelling with pre-cut labels, pressure-sensitive labels, reel-fed wrap-around labels or cut wraparound labels, with the addition of a sleeving carousel, mounted directly on the modularised labeller - for handling sleeve labels in stretch or shrink design. An added advantage is that only one bottle infeed and one bottle discharge are required.

Thin label materials
A particular challenge involved in beverage labelling technology nowadays is how to handle ultra-thin label materials, such as OPP labels measuring just 25µm. The technical requirements encountered when running these labels relate primarily to the reduced stiffness and how to handle it in the vacuum systems of the label transfer function.

For users of a non-returnable PET bottle, in particular, wrap-around labelling with OPP labels is still the most affordable variant, says
Krones. With this dress variant there is even more ability to focus on possible savings. One option is to dress the bottles in part-labels - enabling the labelling costs to be reduced by up to 50 % - using the company's existing Contiroll technology.

Linerless labelling
Of course both cost and environmental pressures have led to the development of the linerless label, which presents its own set of application issues. One company that has risen to the challenge is ALTech UK Labelling Technologies.

The ALcode LL (Linerless) is a 'revolutionary' new print/apply machine, the core technology of which has been developed under patent license alongside a world leader in the manufacture of linerless adhesive materials. 'PMH', the approved linerless adhesive material, consists of a matt BOPP film, coated with Hot Melt adhesive (without solvent residues) for permanent label application.

Advantages compared with conventional self-adhesive labels include: lower cost per label, 15-30% lower than standard silicone backed die cut labels; zero silicone paper waste (difficult to recycle); more than double the reel capacity of a standard roll, for fewer media changes, less media storage, less machine down time; and label stock rationalisation, while an on-board cutting system allows generic label rolls to be cut to different label lengths for different applications.

The new ALcode LL features a number of patented concepts for unwinding the material from the roll, cutting, overprinting and applying the label to the product. The machine is capable of applying labels using both air and contact, on all sides of an object, including corners, at a variable speed range from 20 to 80 labels/min depending on label size and product pitch.

Standard units are provided with a SATO S8408 DT/TT dedicated inline print engine - with special linerless kit, offering up to 16 inch per sec print speed at 200dpi - but can be supplied with a choice of print engines from other manufacturers. The company says the small purchase premium over its standard print and apply range means total life cost for any medium to high volume label application is substantially less than that of any traditional silicone backed label print and apply applicator.

Meeting retailer demands
The increasing demand from supermarkets for promotional labelling onto all types of bagged product often results in reduced efficiencies on production lines where labels are commonly applied by hand. Herma UK has now carried out over 200 installations of its Herma 400 VFFS labelling unit onto Vertical Form, Fill & Seal machines.

Supplied with an integral mounting frame containing rollers, the Herma 400 VFFS allows the packaging film to be re-routed around the label applicator and the label applied firmly and accurately in-line. The system works equally with printed or plain packaging film and on intermittent and continuous VFFS machines, according to the company. Speeds of up to 200 bags/min are said to be achievable.

The system is based around the advanced Herma 400 servo label applicator. The applicator has integrated control so no external control box is required. This makes integration very straightforward, with typical installation times being less than four hours.

New solutions
FastPatch, from Advanced Labelling Systems (ALS) is a new range of clear, self-adhesive window patch labels for product cartons, designed for high speed application on carton manufacturing lines. Generally, window patches are applied off-line using large machines that cut rolls of clear material, apply adhesive and press the window shape on. The process runs much slower than a carton line and results in many inefficiencies.

Using the ALS FastPaQ range of machines, FastPatch labels can be applied at a rate in excess of 180,000/hr. Labels are created with permanent adhesive to the customer's carton aperture requirements, a backing liner is applied and then die-cut in register, with the excess waste removed, just like a regular label.

The difference is that no adhesive ever comes in contact with the centre of the label, so that it retains its clarity and is safe for food contact. Materials available include PET, acetate and LDPE.

Dispensing labels at up to 375m/min, with dispensing accuracy of +/-0.4mm, the system has the ability to place a self-adhesive labeller in-line with other fast manufacturing processes, such as continuous film and label webs, carton manufacturing and publication printing. It can also be used to label off-line as a secondary process - offering new opportunities for on-pack promotions or label-on-label constructions.

Dynamic future
With so many different influences driving label application technologies - and with the possibility of other factors such as active and intelligent solutions resulting in yet more demands - it's clear that the pace of innovation in this particular machine class is unlikely to
slow down any time soon.

www.als-eu.com
www.altech-uk.com
www.herma-labellingmachines.co.uk
www.krones.com
www.newman.co.uk
www.satoworldwide.com
www.travtec.co.uk



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