How to Integrate Labeling and Packaging Machines Efficiently

Sleeve, OPP or sticker: what decides the choice?

A full-body sleeve covers the whole bottle and gives the most design freedom, at the cost of film and a shrink tunnel. An OPP wrap-around label is the cheapest per unit at high speed. A sticker suits short runs and curved surfaces where a wrap is impractical.

Why does label position drift?

The label is positioned relative to the bottle, so any variation in bottle rotation, conveyor speed or label feed shows up as drift. On a round bottle the orientation is set by a roller or a star wheel; on a square bottle it is set by a mechanical aligner. Drift is usually a bottle handling problem, not a label problem.

Site requirements, air and power consumption sit with the Rotary Sticker Labeling.

How is the labeller synchronised with the filler?

Through the conveyor and an accumulator, not through a mechanical link. The labeller runs slightly faster than the filler and the accumulator absorbs the difference. A labeller matched exactly to the filler speed will stop the line at the first roll change.

Reference unit for this duty: the Sleeve Labeling.

Why does a label need a vision check?

Because a missing or skewed label is a customer reject that the line cannot see. A camera at the labeller outlet with a reject gate catches it at the source, before the packer hides it inside a case.

The same question is worked through from another angle in How to Automate Labeling for Large Bottling Lines.

Frequently asked questions