Irlam, Manchester, England - Kingsland Wines & Spirits, the largest independent bottler of wines and spirits in the U.K., has selected a Weber SolarJet 30W laser coder for the marking of wine bottles on one of its high-speed bottling lines at its plant here.
For traceability purposes all drinks sold in the U.K. must contain information including a Julian date code and information on where and when the product was bottled.
Traditionally this information has been inkjet coded onto the bottle or label; the disadvantage being that traceability of the product is lost if the label is removed and the black ink used in the inkjet coders can sometimes prove hard to read if applied to green glass.
By comparison, the Weber laser coder-chosen by Kingsland after a series of trials with other systems-produces permanent, clear, easy-to-read text of just 4 mm, running at speeds up to 300 bottles per minute.
The machine features sealed CO2 technology, offering reliable performance with virtually no maintenance required. An adjustable marking head allows the machine’s orientation to be changed to suit individual applications. A user-friendly control panel ensures ease of set-up for operators.
A second coder has been selected for one of the company’s other bottling lines, with two further coders planned for later in the year.
“The Weber (www.weber.co.uk) laser coders have proved the ideal solution for our traceability requirements,” comments Nigel Smith of Kingsland Wines and Spirits. “They are easy to use, can match the speed of our bottling lines, and produce a quality code that does not detract from the overall appearance of the bottle.”