Nil coder downtime best ingredient for FMCG processor

The key facts for elimination of downtime include:

• user-friendly operator interface has sped up training, delivering improved line operation
• equipment needed to be robust (IP55 rating)
• process needs varied widely across package substrate and line speed
• Linx 4900 reliability reduced plant downtime by up to 50 hours per week

Kerry Ingredients manufacture food ingredients and flavours. Manufacturing at their South Windsor plant in NSW was hampered by coding machine downtime, which reduced running time between 8 and 15 hours per week, per line.

Kerry Ingredients installed two Linx 4900s and a Linx 6900 FMCG processors from Matthews Intelligent Identification. According to Gary Farrell, Kerry Ingredients, they have four different production lines, each running multiple products, with speeds varying from 20 bottles per minute up to 120 twin sachets per minute.

Kerry Ingredients needed the coders that can be easily moved between the lines. Since their throughput is high, they needed the coders to be efficient and not hamper production. Kerry Ingredients printed codes for traceability and legal requirements, including best before dates, times and allergen declarations.

The Linx 4900s are used on the bottling lines. Linx 4900 is used on the single-lane form fill seal (FFS) machine for sachets, and the Linx 6900 is used on a double-lane FFS sachet machine.

With the bottle line, the coders sit at the end of the production process; but on the sachet line, the roll unforms itself through the machine, so it is pre-printed, before the sachets are filled. Linxes’ stainless steel enclosures, with no dirt traps, met Kerry’s hygiene requirements and were ideal for wash down.

Linx FMCG processors have also enabled quick and smooth training of operators and allowed the production line to run quickly and smoothly.

The lack of downtime had an immediate and positive impact on productivity and profitability. Gary also recollects that before installing the Linxes, they had a spreadsheet of all their downtime caused by coder failure. Now they are down to zero.