Many people are familiar with Krispy Kreme, which makes those absurdly tasty confections that are quickly becoming known worldwide.
They may have stopped by the company's doughnut shops, or picked up a box or two at area grocery or convenience stores.
Wholesale bakeries supply the stores with boxes of doughnuts and it is in these bakeries that a special labelling solution speeds the baked goodies to their destinations.
A unique printer and applicator customised for Krispy Kreme and with a durable print engine from SATO answer the stand-alone system.
Like the ingredients used to start the baking process, the start of this solution was humble enough.
A family-owned business, Action Packaging Systems, supplies labels and labellers including its dependable Gold Seal tamp/blow printer/applicator unit to a growing list of customers throughout the U.S.
They sent out a mailing, which went to a distributor who dealt with Krispy Kreme and knew the company was looking for a labelling solution.
He mentioned the need to action packaging president. The president made his way down to Krispy Kreme's headquarters in Winston-Salem NC and learned the company was searching for a printing solution that would quickly and accurately place round, variable-information labels on different-sized doughnut boxes as they came to the end of the bakeries' conveyor lines.
Though Krispy Kreme was testing other solutions, the president of Action Packaging System was confident he had the right one, a customised gold seal.
He was so confident, in fact, that he went ahead and built a prototype, even painting it the distinctive Krispy Kreme green.
His judgment, like the doughnuts, was perfect and his effort paid off. In surprisingly short order from first contact to first unit shipped, about six weeks the special printer/applicators began precisely applying the labels in the wholesale bakeries.
Currently, approximately 30 units are streamlining production for Krispy Kreme suppliers.
Solution:
The gold seal printer/applicator has just two buttons, no knobs to adjust, no gauges, no switches and what is called as the second-shift-proof according to the president.
The semiautomatic system is completely self-contained on a cart, neatly packaged with the works, air compressor and vacuum pump, electrical in a cabinet underneath the unit.
Wires run from cabinet to junction box to the unit. Finally, a drawer containing a keypad slides out of the way when not in use.
According to Krispy Kreme, the printer is portable, Krispy Kreme uses its production areas for a variety of products and not all of them need the printer there. So it can roll it in or out as needed.
Durability was an important consideration, since bakeries can be a bit dusty and production areas are regularly washed down.
Again, the president of Action Packaging had no doubts about the gold seal. It is built to wear well, to just run every day. For example, says the president, the take-up waste motor has no chains, no belts. It is direct drive and electric.
They have never replaced one and its direct-thermal, SATO M-8459Se series print engine has great print head life. It prints 203 dots-per-inch resolution with a maximum print width of 4.4 inches and a print speed of 5 inches per second.
The print engine is simple, easy to diagnose and service and easy to get parts. The printer also accepts jobs on the go faster than others.
Simplicity in a cart with a little computer mixed in:
The round, 1 1/2-inch label Krispy Kreme needed applied is simple enough. It contains a price, sell-by date and store number in addition to the pre-printed graphics.
Though simple, it is essential that it be there and in the same place box after box.
Previously, Krispy Kreme had hand application of labels in the stores. It was labour-intensive and there was a lack of standardised presentation of the product.
These printer/applicators sped up the production, gave them consistent placement and proper placement on the box and overall, that improved the look of the brand.
In the wholesale bakeries, one printer/applicator is assigned to each line. The number of lines varies, but many bakeries working with Krispy Kreme have between one and three units.
As the freshly boxed doughnuts come down the various conveyor lines, at an average rate of 20 dozen per minute, workers pick up and place each box under the applicator.
Here, another bit of customisation gives a helping hand. A PRINTPADT barcode printing terminal from TEKLYNX International has been connected to the Gold Seal to allow workers to key enter the price and sell-by date when prompted by the system.
The print-pad, pre-programmed with all non-variable label data downloaded from a pc running LABELVIEWT barcode labelling and integration software from TEKLYNX and installed by Action Packaging Systems, feeds that data plus the store number to the printer which creates the label.
The tamp/blow application completes the cycle, adjusting instantly for different-sized boxes, its stroke ranges from 1/2 inch to 4 inches.
The worker then takes the perfectly labelled box and stores it on a rack for later shipping to the appropriate store.
Getting the computer data into the unit was another essential part of the application and something the president of Action Packaging had not encountered before.
They wanted it connected to a computer, and he said that he was not sure how to do that but would figure it out. He credits OEM sales and marketing manager for SATO for turning him on to the TEKLYNX PRINTPAD.
Action Packaging programs the keypad/terminal using a PC, storing all essential label data within it and ships it ready to go with the Gold Seal.
That is just part of the service Action Packaging provides Krispy Kreme. Other parts include system integrator duties and any repairs and maintenance.
Action Packaging also supplies the round labels around 100 million of them per year. The great relationship will continue. As Krispy Kreme expands operations, more distinctive green Gold Seals will roll out to streamline production.
Benefits:
These units are doing a great job for Krispy Kreme. APS is durable, consistent in their operation and are simple for people to use.
Krispy Kreme people want to come in, plug it up and watch it run. It has received only positive comments from the users. It has invested a lot here, but is getting a good return on investment.
Krispy Kreme is achieving what it wanted to achieve. Krispy Kreme achieved what it was looking for, a durable system which is simple to use. The new applicator system speeds up the production and gave Krispy Kreme more consistent quality and results.