Talking about the Application of Bar Code Technology in Food Industry

Automatic identification system combines examples of special barcode labeling and EDI

The main chocolate candy factory, PALMER's customers, began to require delivery labels on delivery to stores or wholesale centers. Using bar code technology and Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) technology, Bermeer meets the requirements of these customers.

Bertelsmann, Head of MIS Sugar Beans Production at Bermeer, said: "The greatest success of the bar code and EDI systems is to enable us to keep our customers and avoid penalties for failing to meet customer requirements. We don't want to imagine If there is no such thing as this system will happen."

“Our majority of our customers have never requested a shipping label before, and the UPC code printed on the side of all our candy cartons is sufficient for them, but now automation,” said Ke Li Ni, head of EDI at Birminger. The wholesale center and EDI require more information to be quickly scanned and collected."

Bermer has a broad customer base, including discounted retail stores and pharmacies in the United States, as well as customers in Canada, Mexico, and Russia, and even within the U.S. military’s internal stores. Larger retailers in the world have very strict barcode labeling requirements for suppliers. If the supplier does not provide the appropriate label, he will be fined and may eventually lose business opportunities.

Under the customer's driving, Bermeer hopes to meet the requirements of every customer's bar code label in any training. In order to achieve this goal, Bermer has to find a flexible labeling system that can meet many different requirements in the company's production process.

Automating the production of delivery labels

Bermer's delivery process improves as technology advances. It evolved from the waxed packaging to the use of custom labels, and finally printed labels at the shipping site were manually posted on the box. The next step is to go into automation.

Testeller's manager said: "Our previous labeling systems were not very flexible. We could not respond quickly to changes in customer requirements." In order to adapt an automated labeling system to the company's application needs, it is necessary to consider the company's position. problem. Each Bermeer customer has a label format. The product label is completed in the company's warehouse. Nearly half of the goods have a special 128-digit delivery label prepared for the customer. These labels are used by the EDI system. More and more customers require special shipping labels. Other Bermer customers may not have required such labels, but they also have their own label requirements, including special product descriptions. Bermer must meet these requirements.

In addition to handling different label formats, different products and specifications, Bermer also asked the system to increase the accuracy of delivery by tagging orders. The order was transferred from the company's main computer AS/400 operating system. Stored in a warehouse database.

Finally, the Bermer company's production has a strong seasonality, and there will be a peak of production before each festival. The final requirement for this new system is that the system should be able to work continuously during peak production periods.

Solve the problem

Bermeer is no stranger to product labels or barcodes. Bermer has two operations centers in Pennsylvania. The 200,000-square-foot production facility currently has eight production lines and the other one is being installed. Here, countless candies are produced, packaged and boxed, and then shipped to warehouses on the other side of the city.

It is clear that a large number of labels are needed in this production workshop. There are two dot-matching label printers and three thermal transfer label printers that work continuously in the label printing room inside the factory. There are UPC barcode labels, nutrition labels, price labels, some boxes containing cross-five symbols, and delivery cabinet labels.

The second location of the Bermer company is a 330,000-square-foot warehouse where products waiting to be shipped are stored. This is where Bermeer seeks to improve its labeling system. In view of its long-term relationship with Weber, Bermeer has also asked it to help improve the warehouse labeling system.

The production of labels meets the requirements of customers

Bermer's labeling system is completely designed according to the customer's requirements. Each customer's requirements are different, Bermeer company to meet the existing requirements of each customer, at the same time to adapt to all new customer requirements. Bermer is completing the installation of the system during Burmese's busy Thanksgiving production period. The back system consists of two high-speed bar code printing/posting machines and two Weber special-designed item conveyors. These automated on-line labeling systems print and post labels on site at high speeds with consistent accuracy. All devices are networked through Weber's special labeling software and are the key to the entire new system.

Bermeer works in the IBM AS/400 environment. All customer-related data and order history are stored in the sub-system of the production floor, and the information is updated every day. Every day, ASII files with orders that need to be shipped are transferred to a personal computer in the warehouse. Each file is matched with a special truck delivery slip. The file contains the carrier's serial number, product number, the number of cartons, and the location of the arrival.

Bermer uses Weber's label design software to control all its label printing machinery. In this way, any of more than 50 tag formats can be extracted, generated and modified in its two company locations.