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How Smarter Packaging Can Eliminate Instruction Manuals

-- Packaging Digest, 9/22/2008 2:00:00 AM

Want a great way to cut costs on the packaging of your product? Try printing the instructions for your product on the package itself. By doing so, you eliminate wasted hours spent on producing and inserting separate instruction sheets.

A great example of this switch is Whelen Engineering, which manufacturers lights, beacons, sirens and other warning equipment for emergency vehicles. Each of Whelen’s several thousand different products requires instructions that provide users with the information needed to assemble and mount the part.

Prior to changing to instructions on each bag, operators at the bagging operation inserted preprinted instruction sheets into each bag, sometimes folding the individual sheets in half or in quarters to fit inside the package.

“We were motivated to print the instructions on the bags in an effort to reallocate labor to more productive tasks," said Jon Hardy, supervisor of manufacturing engineering at Whelen. With three in-line printers installed so far, we've managed to move three people handling the printing, storing and folding of the instruction manuals to more productive tasks.”

Large-Format Printers Are a Must
To eliminate the need to insert instruction manuals into each of its packages, Whelen searched for an in-line printer that could print the instructions directly on the packages during the bagging operation.

“We went looking for a thermal-transfer printer that could do large-format printing,” notes Jon Hardy, supervisor of manufacturing engineering at Whelen. “We found several systems that produced two- and four-inch widths and a couple that produced five-inch widths. But we wanted a printer that could achieve an eight-inch width. We came to Norwood/Allen just as they were introducing their NGT printers in the U.S.”

Boosts Operator Throughput
Eliminating the need to fold and insert preprinted instruction sheets into each bag enables the operators at the bagging station to increase their throughput. “It only takes two seconds to bag and seal a product, but it could take four seconds to fold the paper,” says Hardy. “Our move to automated printing potentially increases the bagging rate by three times.”

The change also eliminates the repetitive task of folding and inserting the papers, which makes the operators' job easier.

“We were printing several million instruction sheets per year,” adds Bob Dubois, manufacturing engineer at the Charlestown, NH plant. “Eliminating as many of these sheets as possible helps save valuable resources and this new approach is better for the environment. It also gives us more production flexibility.”

Other Benefits Beyond Saving Labor
Printing on-demand allows Whelen to ensure that the instructions are absolutely current. It eliminates the possibility that out-of-date instruction sheets or an incorrect sheet is inserted into the package. Whelen is also now able to easily customize the print on the package for a particular customer, which is especially valuable in today's environment where bagging to-order is increasingly preferred in an effort to reduce finished goods inventory, says Hardy.

In addition to printing the lengthy instruction manual onto the polyethylene bags, Whelen prints the product description, a bar code and the date.

“The bottom line is that the printers have allowed us to move three people to more productive tasks,” said Hardy. “So the project was a home-run hit. The rest is icing on the cake.”

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