Sometimes, the coders on a production line marking products, cartons and pallets, are a rather motley crew — “diverse” models is one way to put it, but “miscellaneous and disparate” could be a better description. This can happen when there is no strategic plan for acquiring equipment, and something is needed — urgently — which could be due to either a sudden increase in work (say a new contract) or irreparable breakdown.

Having coders with all different interfaces and controls makes the line hard to manage, and it’s more than annoying regarding training. But there is a way to solve this — without replacing your motley crew. Read on to see how.

Different coders tend to have their own (and so different) interfaces and controls, which can make it hard for operators to manage all of them. It also means a whole lot of different training, which can impact workers and the business.

But rather than get rid of all the coders marking your products, cartons and/or pallets, you can use a universal platform to control them.

The MPERIA™ line controller has been designed to control various print technologies —— including high resolution inkjet printers, thermal inkjet coders, scanners and more — which is not only incredibly handy, it’s unique. The Mperia platform allows workers to manage messages and settings for multiple printers across one or several production lines and even packaging locations.

On top of that, the Mperia platform is scalable, so if your plant needs a new coder — pronto — the Mperia allows you to grow, add SKUs and even whole production lines without impacting your marking system.

Schweppes has a really good example of Mperia’s power as a universal control platform, having installed an Mperia L-Series Thermal Inkjet Coder.

The manufacturer runs six coding heads for two different technologies — thermal inkjet and drop-on-demand — on the one production line from the one controller (a capability unique to the Mperia).

Schweppes uses the Mperia on its Real Iced Tea Co. range and finds it very flexible and simple to use. Workers also find they can do a lot more with it too; for example, they can modify, edit and create new codes while the system is still running. See how they do it.

Australian gelato maker Gelato Messina is another using the Matthews’ Mperia; this time the T-Series, the next generation in impulse inkjet coding technology. The artisan producer uses it to print product name and batch code directly onto cartons instead of hand printing and applying labels; the result being bladders are now packed into a carton which is run across the conveyor. The Mperia installation was part of a turnkey solution that included a conveyor. Find out more about Gelato Messina’s productivity gains.

Another in the family is the Matthews Mperia V-Series, a robust large character coder that combines the innovative Mperia platform with Drop On Demand valve inkjet technology. It’s ideal for marking and coding in challenging industrial environments and packing applications.

With a combination of an intuitive, touch screen GUI and PC-based hardware, the Mperia controller is simple to use. Seamless integration with existing ERP systems and databases helps reduce coding errors and improve productivity for a strong return on investment (ROI).

Check out Matthews’ vast resource library. It has a host of detailed information that’s all free to download! There are whitepapers, presentations we’ve done to industry bodies, infographics for manufacturing, case studies, articles from our thought leaders, vids showing solutions in action and more!

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