Premier Foods Centralizes Label Design & Control

Premier Foods processes and packs a wide range of canned vegetables under its brand names as well as own label produce for many of the well-known retail chains.

Why a New Labeling Solution was Needed

To be able to control the accuracy and quality of labeling across four sites Premier needed to upgrade its labeling systems and centralise label design and product information. Eleven new print and apply units were also to be incorporated into the new system. Finding the right supplier was vital to achieving a successful outcome.

Most suppliers took the easy route recommending that the whole labeling system be replaced. With up to 45 printer applicators involved at four different sites, the estimates for replacing the system were upwards of half a million pounds. But the first priority for Premier was to centralise control of their labeling. After that the hardware would be upgraded in stages. This meant finding labeling software that could handle the diverse range of existing label printers and applicators.

The Solution

The Chivers Hartley site contacted PRISYM ID Systems a specialist labeling software provider with experience in the food sector and print and apply applications

PRISYM software formed the basis of the new labeling system. PRISYM makes use of Premier Foods’ wide area network and central product/customer databases linked to local PCs in each of the four factories. New label designs and product information are entered and controlled at the Long Sutton office; the data is then available to all users via the network. Each factory has a local terminal located near each production line, running a "print-only" version of PRISYM, enabling operators to call up the various label designs and download them to the printer/coder applicators.

Selecting the correct label is extremely easy as label formats can be linked to product codes and selected from menu screens. PRISYM ID also linked scanners to the system to enable the operators to simply scan the bar codes on work sheets to call up the correct label format for the product line they are running.

The operator then sends the label data to the relevant production line. Variable information such as the use by date and production line code is input at the time of printing along with the number of labels required. This means that product labels printed for the multipacks are now identical no matter at which plant they are printed.

All the existing hardware that was not due to be upgraded had to be linked to the new PRISYM labeling software. The requirement for Apple Mac driven printer/applicators however presented a particular challenge. PRISYM ID solved the problem by writing a driver that enabled PRISYM to talk to the printer. This was a success and first printer/applicator worked perfectly. It was then a simple task to link up the other printers on other remote sites that had been rewired. PRISYM now successfully controls label production across the group utilising many different printer types.

PRISYM ID also installed the eleven PARAGON print and apply units at the Chivers Hartley site using Zebra print engines to drive them.

The Benefits

Premier Foods now has an easily upgradeable system with central control over label formats and product information. This facilitates accuracy, quality and consistency across all four sites.

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