Its complete name is Opera 500 Ad 45T S6/E3, and it represents one of Sacmi Labelling’s most advanced products. Just installed by Novamex – a leading producer and distributor of non-alcoholic drinks and foods in Mexico and the USA – at its Mexicali plant, this innovative electric self-adhesive labeller features six labelling stations and a CV 3000 container positioning system, designed by Sacmi Labelling in collaboration with the Sacmi Imola Automation and Inspection Systems Division.
The machine is designed to label 400 mm glass bottles at a rate of 52,000 bottles per hour: the final drinking product is “Jarritos”, a traditional Mexican drink consumed in vast quantities, especially by migrant Hispanics in the US. Novamex has decided to boost its popularity further via a stylish marketing campaign. The extreme labelling precision of the Opera 500 Ad, together with “no label look” transparent labels, which give the impression of a 50s-style screen printed bottle, provides Jarritos Novamex with considerable added value.
The labelling stations in the Mexicali plant have been designed to allow high-speed application of self-adhesive labels while ensuring considerable decoration flexibility. The stations - dual feed for each label, master-slave and removable - allow fast reel changeovers without having to interrupt production. Installing several self-adhesive units of this type on a compact machine allows several labels to be applied on the same bottle, with results that are as outstanding as they are fast.
Thanks to efficient synergy with Sacmi Imola, Sacmi Labelling has also succeeded in equipping the new labeller with an automatic vision system to ensure excellent labelling precision at very high output rates. The CV 3000, in fact, calculates bottle position on the basis of the bas-relief logo – detected by a set of cameras – and then uses that information to rotate the bottle accordingly and so ensure correct label application. The system also provides valuable statistical information on output, such as the number of products inspected, average output rate and any defects.
