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Target SICS:
Wood Pallets and Skids - 2448
Target Customers:
Pallet Manufacturers requiring an ALSC compliant IPPC Heat Treatment Logos on their pallets.
Key Benefits
• Automate IPPC heat treated logo application process
• Eliminate application labor costs
• Reproduce IPPC logo on pallet along with date and lot information for tracking purposes.
Application Brief:Recently, the pallet manufacturing coding practices have changed opening the door to a new opportunity for the Marksman Pro and ProSeries printheads. The ALSC directive aimed at pallet and wooden crate manufacturers who produce heat treated pallets requires them to print an IPPC logo that is meant to verify to the end-user of the pallet that the pallet has been heat treated and meets ALSC and IPPC quality standards. The IPPC logo is similar to that of a USDA logo and contains a number specific to the manufacturer of the pallet and what heat treatment processes it has gone through during manufacturing. Many pallet manufacturer use a manual stamp to apply this logo, which is required on both sides of the pallet. In addition, they use a stenciling process to apply a date and lot code to the pallet. By replacing this manual process with the Marksman Pro and the ProSeries 384 printheads, the pallet producer is able to achieve a higher level of coding quality and eliminate labor costs associated with the stamping and stenciling process.
Application Analysis
Customer: Pallet manufacturer in central United States.
Customer Goals:
1. Automate application of IPPC logo and variable information
2. Beat Pre-printed Coding Quality
3. Lower per pallet coding costs
Utilizing a dual-coding system consisting of a rubber stamp and stenciling process, the customer codes each individual heat-treated pallet with an IPPC certification stamp and lot and date information on both sides of pallet. After a batch of pallets is produced, a line worker must go through the batch with a rubber stamp to apply the IPPC logo to each side of the pallet. After the logo is applied, the line worker must also stencil the lot and date information on each side of each pallet. This entire process must take place before the pallets can be moved to the warehouse area for stocking and shipping.
Proposed System: Utilizing the customer’s current conveyor system, the ProSeries 384 printheads will print on the sides of the pallet as they move down the production line. The Marksman Pro will program the printheads to print the IPPC logo as well as the date and lot information. The line operator need change the lot number as required by production requirements via the simple touchscreen interface to the Marksman Pro. Offline coding needs will be completely eliminated and pallet staging needs reduced to production and warehouse.
Installation Details
Installation Brief: Using a centralized conveyor belt system, the customer installed a Marksman Pro and two ProSeries 384 printheads as noted below. The line took approximately 6-8 hours to install and train line workers to operate and maintain. As the customer plans to only run one or two message formats, message editing training did not take a significant amount of time.
Equipment Layout:
1. Marksman Pro Controller
2. ProSeries 384 Printhead (Qty. 2)
3. Conveying System*
4. Pallet*
5. Floor Mount Bracketry System (Qty. 2)
6. Ink Bottle (Qty. 2)
7. Photosenser
8. APS Waste Collection Bottle (Qty. 2)
9. Strobe Beacon
10. APS Data Cable (Qty. 2)
11. Printhead Data Cable (Qty. 2)
12. Controller Power Cable
*Customer Supplied Equipment
Total System Cost: $18ꯠ including one day installation and training labor.
Payback: Payback occurred at 8 weeks with annual savings of $120ꯠ.
Based On: 5ꯠ weekly pallet volume
Old System
$.01 variable coding cost due to purchase of stamps, stencils and consumables
$.30 Variable Cost per pallet
The customer estimated that it took approximately one minute to code each pallet using the old process
FoxJet System
$18ꯠ System & $.01 cost per box
Standard Industrial Classification Code
2448: Wood Pallets and Skids
SIC Code Description:
Establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing wood or wood and metal combination pallets and skids.
Product Examples:
Pallet containers, wood or wood and metal combination
Pallets, wood or wood and metal combination
