Module Citizens

Unique codes created by IMprints CodeMaster software can be printed on packaging by Videojet�s variable data marking and coding equipment or a company�s existing technology. Courtesy of Videojet

When the time comes to serialize products for electronic pedigrees, manufacturers will have to incorporate systems into existing production lines or create new ones. Finances in mind, production line adjustments present a prudent choice.

Videojet Technologies (Wood Dale, IL) sees an answer in combining software and hardware. The modular capability of the IMprints Track & Trace Solution integrates into automated lines, and the company says the ease of incorporation means production times will suffer few losses.

“We think the key to surviving in the market is full system integration,” says Adrian Fernandez, vice president, marketing. “The magic comes in getting something working on somebody’s production line.”

The IMprints suite comprises separate tracking equipment pieces that can be implemented in several combinations—from code creation, to printing, to data storage. To keep businesses from losing time, various elements of the system can be integrated one at a time.

“The concern we hear all the time is, ‘How long is my production going to be down?’” says Bob Neagle, business unit manager, brand protection solutions group. “In every case so far, we’ve been able to help keep your production line up.”

IMprints offers three basics levels of track and trace technology. First, the IMprints CodeMaster generates unique codes for product. Next, an IMprints Line Controller machine receives the information and relays it to a variable-data printer (small-character continuous ink-jet, laser coder, etc.). This information is used for printing codes, creating parent/child relationships, and providing inspection systems with the proper information to monitor.

The options for batch packing at the third stage vary between manual and automated stations. In manual systems, an additional visual inspection unit will monitor which items are in each case; in automated systems, items will be batched in order and need no further validation.

Next, a case code is printed by a large-character continuous ink-jet printer. The unique product codes from the individual products are linked to the one- or two-dimensional code printed on the corrugated container, which a wireless handheld device subsequently reads as the container is loaded onto a pallet.

Ease of use is a major plus that Videojet touts. “You can use a cell phone to verify a single number,” Neagle says, explaining the FTP transfer. “We fill it in then we get it back to you. There’s nothing the customer has to do but hit a couple of buttons and make it go.”

Videojet offers data storage for maintaining pedigree information. The FTP-based TraceIt! Web site stores all codes and associates them to products. The company says desire for content management varies by customer company size.

Videojet says most clients, especially smaller companies, want only data and not a server. In many cases, operations staff choose not to make track and trace an IT-based project.

“What’s interesting is it’s very scaleable, very modular,” Neagle says. “If you’ve got your own system, you can use that.”

The company’s philosophy revolves around this concept. “We’re not building things from the ground up,” Fernandez says. “We have standard building blocks.”

A major issue that packagers come across is which tagging technology to adopt. The IMprints system is built to work with bar codes, but RFID can be incorporated into the system with minimal interruption, according to Fernandez.

“If RFID becomes cost-effective and readable, this could be revolutionary,” he says. “Do an incremental investment, and you have basically the same system.”