Increased efficiency through Hitachi printers and scanner technology
Initial situation and objectives
Mr. Michael Herrschuh, Head of Central Technology at Teehaus GmbH in Radebeul, was looking for a more efficient solution for labelling tea packs. The aim was to label two different products simultaneously on one line. The aim was to reduce marking errors, reduce production line downtime and improve print quality, while also minimizing maintenance costs.
The requirements for the new solution were clearly defined. A scanner was to scan the barcode on the packaging and then print the best-before date, the batch number and the lot number. In addition, an ejection function had to be integrated to remove products with unreadable barcodes from the line. Due to the dusty environment in tea production and packaging, a fast and reliable application was also required.
Implementation
Planning for the project began in 2021 and since then the scanner-printer solution has been developed and finally integrated into the production processes. Teehaus evaluated several solutions and ultimately opted for Diagraph/Hitachi, mainly due to the good contact with the field service and the customized software solution for the combination of scanner and printer.
During implementation, special requirements were placed on the integration of the scanner-printer solution and the reliable ejection mechanism for faulty products. However, these challenges were successfully overcome. The connection of the Hitachi UX printers went smoothly and met the company’s usual high quality standards.
The cooperation with Diagraph has also been extremely positive. The solution is now being used on four production lines at Teehaus, with an additional backup device available to minimize any downtime.
Initial successes and improvements achieved
After the introduction, it became clear that the set goals had been fully achieved. The production lines are running smoothly despite the dusty environment. The first successes were already evident in the initial phase: The simultaneous labeling of two different types of tea on each packaging line led to a considerable increase in efficiency, allowing significantly more packs to be labeled in the same amount of time.
Conclusion
Mr. Herrschuh was very pleased with the new solution: “We are completely satisfied with the scanner solution from Diagraph. By printing two different products on each packaging line, we save a lot of time when labeling the many different types of tea. In addition, the print quality and reliability of the Hitachi UX printers are excellent.”
For the future, Teehaus is planning a database connection to further optimize the labelling process.
Link to the video: https://youtu.be/4a2IR_Gd9xo
About Teehaus and Teekanne
Teehaus GmbH was founded in 1881 by Otto E. Weber in Radebeul near Dresden and began selling Chinese tea. The name “Teehaus” comes from the founder’s former villa, which was known as a convivial meeting place for tea lovers. Today, Teehaus specializes in the production of high-quality teas and preserves the tradition of excellent quality. Teehaus GmbH has been part of Teekanne GmbH in Düsseldorf since 1991.
