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Labels help melt confusion

“Any engineer that has ever put a wrong bag of chemicals into a mixer can tell you about the importance of proper labeling.”

LABEL SCAN. Bags ready for batch processing are verified via a highly accurate bar-code scan (above) of the on-demand printed la
LABEL SCAN. Bags ready for batch processing are verified via a highly accurate bar-code scan (above) of the on-demand printed la

A dissolvable label applied to EVA bags helps Paulstra make ingredient confusion disappear.

Although it’s said that everyone loves a mystery, that’s not true of companies when the mystery causes confusion and waste.

Paulstra is a manufacturer of elastomer products that provide shock, noise, vibration control, and vibration management for automotive applications. It recently solved confusion over its “mystery bags,” premeasured bags of chemicals prepared by Paulstra personnel. The bags, made of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), are added directly to batches during rubber preparation and processing. In the past, the bags’ contents were identified using handwritten copy that was often smudged and unreadable.

Since July 2004, the bags have received an easy-to-read printed label that includes a bar code for data collection. Mystery solved, and production efficiency was raised, thanks to a complete system provided by Paragon Data Systems (http://paragondsi.com).

Paulstra operates two plants in Michigan, including one in Grand Rapids, where its rubber mixing facility is located. Because the plant produces thousands of rubber products each day, Paulstra’s rubber mixing process is one of the most crucial stages on the manufacturing lines. Plant engineers deal with hundreds of rubber mixing batches every day.

In total, nearly one hundred separate chemicals are used, in powder and pellet form, including curatives and additives such as antioxidants. Paulstra mixing process engineer Sebastien Lebon informs Packaging World the number of different bagged formulations currently numbers 400.

Label accuracy crucial

“Any engineer that has ever put a wrong bag of chemicals into a mixer can tell you about the importance of proper labeling,” says Lebon. “The need to label each batch ‘inclusion’ bag is just as important, if not more so, as ensuring that each batch contains the right ingredients.”

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New e-book on Flexible Packaging
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New e-book on Flexible Packaging