Inkjet & Digital Printing
Domino Ensures Quality Traceability from Cow to Retailers Shelf
Wednesday 30. July 2008 - Friesland Foods, one of the largest dairy companies in the world, has made considerable improvements to the quality and reliability of its track and trace process through the installation of Domino technology.
Seamlessly integrated into Friesland Foods drink packaging production line, Dominos A-Series continuous ink jet printers and C-Series outer case coders ensure secure product tracking from the farm through to the retailers shelf. In addition, the versatility of the Domino technology has enabled Friesland Foods to introduce creative marketing promotions at no extra cost.
In the search for a new, reliable and cost-effective coding solution, Friesland Foods purchased ten Domino A400 and eight A200 printers, having been impressed by Dominos proven ability and experience in the installation of a number of similar applications. According to Production Manager Ludger Ketz, “discussions with reference customers at different affiliate companies of the Friesland Foods Group, all of which responded with positive feedback, were what convinced us that Domino would prove a reliable partner.”
As well as offering a fast, high quality printing solution for best before dates and batch or line numbers, the flexibility of the Domino A-Series proved an added bonus for Friesland Foods in marking the 75th anniversary of its popular Dutch Chocomel brand. When the companys marketing team conceived a creative idea for running a lucky number lottery, they were able to execute the promotion using Domino systems already on site at the companys subsidiary in Kalkar, Germany, without incurring any additional costs.
A sophisticated Windows-based Domino Editor GT controller, capable of processing high quantities of variable codes, managed an A200 to print unique numbers directly on to the Chocomel cartons, providing a cost effective solution. Consumers were asked to send the lottery number to a dedicated number via text message and were immediately notified if they had won a prize.
Providing further proof of its flexibility the A-Series, the worlds best selling continuous ink jet printer, has also been installed for Friesland Foods as a customised dual head system to meet market requirements for more than four lines of print.
Friesland Foods also chose Domino to supply a solution for printing variable data including line number, production date and sell-by date on outer cases. The decision to equip seven production lines with Domino C100 high resolution large character printers was influenced further by the sealed ink container which is ideal for use in hygienic environments, which are so vital for the dairy industry. The high resolution and clear print quality provided by the C100 ensures optimal legibility and guarantees a secure track and trace solution.
As an alternative to purchasing the systems, Friesland Foods has taken advantage of Dominos Relax package, a pay-per-code solution with a contract period of five years, which has proved economically beneficial to Friesland Foods. Within this package, Domino not only takes care of the printer installation, it also organises and carries out maintenance work, and handles requirements planning for consumable materials for the customer. This, in turn, speeds up processes, cuts storage capacity requirements and allows the customer the option to exchange, expand or upgrade the existing systems. Mr.Ketz says that this option was particularly appealing as “it guaranteed costs while maximising availability of printers throughout the contract period. On top of that, we always have access to state-of-the-art coding equipment.”