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Fully automatic order amidst chaos
At L’Oréal in Germany, Bluhm Weber technology supports pallet logistics
In the Logistics section of the L’Oréal works in Karlsruhe, pallets exit the production rows, finding their way to designated storage areas driverless, as if guided by invisible hand. To keep them on their track, they are automatically issued with special dispatch labels. This is the domain of marking specialist Weber Marking Systems, who equipped L'Oreal with several high-tech Legi-Air 4050 P label dispensers.
L'Oreal surely ranks among the world's most renowned beauty and body care brands. Ever since founded by Eugene Schueller in 1909, this globally acting enterprise – currently with a turnover of more than a billion Euro – has maintained its position at the cutting edge of progress: L'Oreal conceived the first full area façade advertising, the first radio jingle advertising spot and of course numerous innovative beauty products. L'Oréal will naturally also deploy state-of-the-art product dispatch technologies. Creams are filled and packaged at the Karlsruhe works; the company has, for instance, been producing in both Karlsruhe and Düsseldorf in Germany since 1930.
Scanners are keeping track
350 members of staff are working on 30 production lines in Karlsruhe. The packaging and dispatching tasks are highly complex. Project Engineer Markus Moch has dedicated himself to optimised logistics chains. He reports: “The pallets from all the production lines arrive at the Logistics section in chaotic order. We need fully automatic technology to ensure that each product will arrive at its correct address.” To this end, Markus Moch and his colleagues have developed a complete palletising station. This plant includes several Bluhm Weber Legi-Air 4050 P labelling machines with Zebra printing modules. Pallets will be labelled whilst passing through, with no need to stop. Bluhm Weber also provided special software to perfectly manage data exchange between the dispensers and L'Oréal's ERP.
The Bluhm Weber label printing dispenser is deployed at the entrance to the pallet station, where driverless forklift trucks dropped off the pallets. All the pallets bear a “pallet sticker”, applied by a L'Oréal worker at the end of the assembly line. The pallet sticker will show a barcode and a datamatrix code. Several scanners now read in the two-dimensional datamatrix code with coded data identifying the conveyor to which the pallet must be directed.
Having arrived here, the next scanner will take over, scanning the barcode and passing on the information to the controller software of the label printing dispensers. The Bluhmware software will communicate with the L'Oréal ERP to then compile the required printing data and transmits the result to the Zebra printing module of the specific label printing dispenser.
Two labelling processes at full speed
All this occurs whilst the pallet travels through the pallet station, finally to be automatically foil wrapped. After the wrapping machine, the pneumatically extending Legi-Air 4050 P applicator arm will be waiting for the rapidly approaching pallet. The label will have been printed and waiting on the dispensing tamp.
Two sensors on the tamp plate will measure the pallet’s position in order to trigger dispensing at the right time. The label will then be blown onto the face of the pallet, contactless. Should both sensors fail to perform, the dispensing tamp will fall back to a contact switch. The blow-off process and retraction of the swivel arm will initiate as soon as the large, heavy pallet touches the tamp plate.
Another label will then be applied to the side of the pallet. The Zebra printing module will to this end print the same label once again, as soon as the applicator has returned to its initial position. At a predefined position, the pneumatic arm will once again linearly extend to apply the side label. The entire process is fully automatic whilst the pallet remains on the move. The Legi-Air 4050 P performs 30 labelling processes per hour at L'Oreal.
Multi-level safety concept will protect the plant
Since labelling happens at full speed, Bluhm Weber engineers had to implement special safety precautions. One “accident” at the pallet line or a failing applicator would after all bring the entire Logistics chain to a grinding halt. The various sensors at the label printing dispensers will already prevent collision between pallets and labelling hardware in most cases. The swivel arm will automatically retract should a pallet approach too close to a dispensing tamp and trigger the contact switch on the tamp pad.
A mechanical safety mechanism was also fitted to protect the applicators’ swivel arms should, for instance, a power failure or lack of compressed air prevent the pallet transport from stopping in time. The Legi-Air 4050 P swivelling tamp has a safety rod to prevent damage. This will allow approaching pallets to push the dispensing tamp aside. Bluhm Weber engineers have also made provision for any malfunctioning during automatic labelling: If, for whatever reason, pallets were incorrectly labelled or not labelled at all, this may be corrected manually.
Forklifts will pick up the pallets at the end of the pallet station and transport them to their designated storage areas. Should forklift drivers notice faulty labels, they may read in pallet sticker data with a manual scanner. The scanner is linked to a Zebra desktop label printer, which will reprint the dispatch label to then be applied by hand.
"The pallets from all the production lines arrive at the Logistics section in chaotic order. We need fully automatic technology to ensure that each product will arrive at its correct address."
(Markus Moch, Project Engineer)
Weber Marking Systems GmbH
Maarweg 33
53619 Rheinbreitbach
Germany
+49 (0)2224 77080
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