“To answer Wal-Mart’s request, we began looking for the simplest solution possible to minimize any possibility of downtime on our production line,” says Leblanc, “so we decided to separate the printing and coding processes to occur prior to the to the application step, as opposed to a combined ‘print-and-apply’ solution.”
After evaluating proposals from several vendors, Lavo ultimately selected a turnkey solution—integrating hardware and components from several leading suppliers of automated identification technologies—put together by RFID experts at Weber Marking Systems of Canada.
“Weber was very proactive in our selection process,” recalls Leblanc. “A major factor in our decision was Weber’s ability to provide the full solution: all the hardware as well as the RFID tags and technical service and support.
“This streamlines the responsibility and accountability to just one supplier for resolution of any issues that might crop up—making communication faster and easier for us,” Leblanc says. “It also avoids the classic ‘ping pong’ between the equipment supplier and raw materials supplier.”
Installed recently this year, the Weber-integrated system is utilized to tag boxes of liquid laundry detergent and other Wal-Mart private-label products with the passive Generation 2 RFID tags incorporating ALN-9450 EPC Class Gen 2 Squiggle inlays—developed by Alien Technology Corporation of Morgan Hill, Ca.—and scanned by the one of four Alien model ALR-9800 RFID readers.
Other equipment hardware that Weber employed in its custom-designed solution includes: two model RX170XI RFID reader/encoder-ready label printers from Zebra Technologies Corporation; three model 3114 tamp-blow label applicators from Label-Aire, Inc.; and four custom-made control panels operated via an Allen-Bradley PLC (programmable logic controller) from Rockwell Automation.
Leblanc explains: “We order blank RFID labels from Weber, which are then printed and coded offline with a Zebra printer and applied onto the boxes with the Label-Aire applicator.
“Next, we use the Alien reader to verify the RFID code and label on each of the cases,” he expands.
“If the RFID is not readable or if the label is missing from the case, the system stops the conveyor and generates an alarm, prompting our operator to remove the defective label and send the case through the applicator and reader process again.”
While the system has not been in use long enough to draw any permanent conclusions, Leblanc says he’s been very pleased with all the technical and customer support received from Weber and Howard Braziller, Weber’s local labeling specialist based in Montreal.
“Although we received proposals from several different equipment suppliers,” Leblanc states, “Weber worked really hard to earn our business—working with us to provide just the right equipment for the solution we wanted, and then supplying everything we needed for this project, from beginning to end.”
Adds Braziller: “When Denis contacted us to work with Lavo on their RFID project, we were very excited to offer our RFID solutions to a premier Quebec-based company.
“Our challenge was to help Lavo enter into this project, supply all the hardware and consumable elements necessary to achieve their goals, and to do it economically with as simple a system as possible,” Braziller recounts.
“We did an extensive survey, using a very consultative approach, to find out what Lavo really needed and came to the solution in which as few operators as possible were needed to ‘run’ the system and optimize production.
“Our very experienced technician installed the system and trained the staff at Lavo on the programming, use and care of the applicators, printers and RFID antenna readers.”
“As a result,” Leblanc concurs, “We are among the first group of companies to be able to provide RFID tagging for our valued customer Wal-Mart, and although it’s limited to them right now, it’s only a matter of time before other customers transition to RFID labels.
“And once they do, it will be a big advantage for our company to have this system in place already and running smoothly,” Leblanc asserts.
“Our management team is well-integrated and adapted to market needs,” Leblanc adds, “and our approach to logistics and marketing management helps ensure that we respond adequately to our customers’ needs.
“We are proud of taking all the measures necessary to ensure that our facility continues to be at the leading edge of technology,” he concludes, “and we appreciate Weber’s help in achieving this.”
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