Inkjet & Digital Printing
Premier Foods Preserves Efficiency with Upgrade to Domino A-Series Plus Coders
Monday 15. September 2008 - With an astonishing annual output of 100,000 tonnes, Premier Foods in Histon, Cambridgeshire, is responsible for manufacturing 50% of the nations annual consumption of jams, jellies and preserves.
The recent installation of five Domino A300+ continuous ink jet coders is helping the company improve efficiencies by addressing the most common causes of downtime – namely unplanned line stoppages, speed losses and defects.
A recent expansion programme at Histon – where lines run around the clock, five days per week – is helping the company to satisfy increasing demand for its products from UK and overseas markets. The site has been a Domino customer for over 25 years and uses Domino equipment to print best before dates and batch codes onto the lid, neck and outer packaging of all products. In addition to the A-Series units installed for primary coding, the company uses Domino C-Series high-resolution ink jet printers for secondary and outer case coding.
The latest installations will replace time-served Domino coders, with Premier using the opportunity to take full advantage of the capabilities afforded by Dominos plus products, which include enhanced connectivity and network functionality. Significantly, the move from the A-Series to the A-Series plus was a simple process as the equipment can be integrated seamlessly into new and existing production lines and requires minimal operator intervention.
“We decided to upgrade our older Domino units to remove obsolescence and standardise engineer and operator familiarisation,” explains Chris Dawks, Chief Engineer at Premier Foods Histon.
Neil Reynolds, Maintenance Manager, expands on this, saying; “We are working at maximum output and the five Domino A300+s have given us 100% uptime, which is very reassuring. In addition, consumables for the new machines seem to last longer.
“We have also signed up with a TotalCare plus planned maintenance package from Domino which gives us better financial management,” says Mr Reynolds. “We are now able to accurately forecast our budget for the year without any unexpected costs. We appreciate the regular scheduled visits and the fact that Dominos engineers know our site and situation and are very responsive.”
With over 100,000 installations worldwide, the Domino A-Series continues to outsell all other continuous ink jet coders globally. Will Edwards, UK Sales Manager at Domino, says, “Were extremely proud of our longstanding relationship with Premier Foods: the company is a seasoned user of Domino A- and C-Series coders, two of our best-selling product ranges. Upgrading to plus models will help the company to optimise efficiency via features such as enhanced connectivity, remote diagnostic solutions and open system platforms, all focussed on delivering high levels of print quality output and high levels of equipment effectiveness, cost predictability and overall performance.
“The TotalCare plus package is ideal for sites operating at full capacity like Histon, where the impact of unplanned downtime can be critical,” he continues. “With planned maintenance in place, we can work as a team with Premier to facilitate optimum performance of the Domino equipment at all times – a great result for both parties.”