At Au-ve-co, the role of distributor AT Information Products (Mahwah, NJ) went beyond simply connecting Au-ve-co with the print-and-apply labeling equipment from Paragon Labeling Systems.
“AT Information took our requirements and found Paragon to fill our carton-labeling needs,” recalls Joseph Hohe, Au-ve-co’s vice president of operations.
“At first, they just wanted a machine to automatically apply labels to their cartons,” says Glenn Mishler, AT’s regional sales manager. Through its research, Au-ve-co “found out about our installations in the automotive industry,” he says. “But the system we use for those large corporations was beyond what Au-ve-co needed.
“We had a relationship with Paragon and knew of their product,” Mishler continues. “We took Au-ve-co’s requirements to them and asked, ‘what would you recommend?’ We had served as a distributor for their print-and-apply labelers, but this application was the first time we went to them for an integrated system.”
In this instance, “integration” refers to the combination of the Paragon print-and-apply labeler and the friction-feeding carton system from Multifeeder Technology. “It cleanly and securely transports each individual carton under the labeler,” says Mishler. He believes the feeder, recommended by Paragon, saves costs for Au-ve-co.
“Typically a feeder in an application like this would load the carton onto a conveyor that would convey it under the labeler,” he explains. “But the Multifeeder unit and labeler combination have their own conveyor, eliminating the need to add a separate conveyor, which would have been a third component to add cost and maintenance.”
When the entire system was first installed, it took some time before Au-ve-co learned “that we had some electrical problems due to the static generated from running the cartons,” Hohe says. “But Paragon and AT Information monitored power fluctuations in the plant, discovering the source of static generation.” By adding noise-filtering devices and using grounding techniques, the suppliers helped Au-ve-co leap that hurdle. “And the machine has worked well for us ever since,” Hohe explains.
While AT was instrumental in meeting Au-ve-co’s needs, Mishler is modest about the distributor’s role, giving much of the credit to Paragon. “From my point of view, our role as a distributor in this application was easy. Usually, we buy all the components and integrate the system, but in this case, Paragon took full responsibility for integration and the labeling equipment.
“There were some initial bumps because of the mystery of identifying the static problem, but Paragon was thorough and did not give up until the system was functioning at 100 percent,” Mishler concludes.
See the story that goes with this sidebar: Au-ve-co fastens itself to print-and-apply labeler
