Spring is in the air again and people are enjoying all the tulips, daffodils and hyacinths in the house. But before you can buy them, they first have to be labeled with information such as a barcode, price and text. This can be done by automatically labeling tulips with a labeling system that does not touch the tulips. You can see how that works here.
The tulip packaging process
Tulips come directly from the field, are sorted and packaged in transparent foil for sale to consumers. It is important that the tulips are labeled for traceability purposes. To achieve this, labels should contain at least the following information:
- The seller’s name.
- An expiry date.
- A barcode and a lot number.
- The place of origin.
How to manufacture tulip labels
There are several ways to manufacture tulip labels.
Option 1: Order pre-printed labels from a label manufacturer
- Advantage: quality labels and less time consuming.
- Disadvantage: delivery times and stock building.
Option 2: In-house manufacturing with a (color) label printer
- Advantage: no delivery times and always the right number of labels.
- Disadvantage: costs time.
How to apply labels to tulips
It will surprise you how often labels are still applied by hand. We come across it every day and, including the horticultural sector.
Flowers in sleeves are regularly labeled from below. This is because it is very complicated to label moving film by air displacement.
Can tulips be labeled automatically?
Old labeling systems are no longer adequate for the currently required speeds. Growth objectives also play a major role. As a result, old labeling system cannot cope with current goals.
In addition, there are also labeling systems that need to be replaced or that have too much downtime. All reasons to look for the ideal labeling process for your business.
Michel Bol, for example, created a new process together with his customer for the automatic labeling of tulip bunches at a speed of 80 products per minute, i.e. 4800 per hour.
Challenges in labeling tulips automatically
Speeds of 80 per minute do present challenges. The labels were applied from below, but this approach limits capacity. In addition, tulip sleeves are not easy to label because the sleeves move. The movement is caused by the speed of the conveyor belt and air displacement.
Together with the client, Michel eventually decided to use two Weber LA4050E systems in a row. This label printer and dispenser can print and apply labels with variable data. One system labels bunches 1,3,5 and the other 2 and 4. This way, the required speed and growth ambitions can be achieved.
The labeling machine is placed above the conveyor belt on a stand. This means that labeling takes place from above. By using the tamp-blow technique, the tulips are not damaged.
The tamp-blow labeling technique
The tamp-blow method is a non-contact labeling technique where a vacuum is created in the tamp-pad. The pad sucks in the label (sticky side down) and keeps it there until the product is ready for labeling.
When the product is ready for labeling, the tamp-pad is lowered. The vacuum in the tamp-pad is switched off and over-pressure is created. The over-pressure ‘blows’ the label at the exact position on the product without the tamp-pad coming into contact with the product.
Advantage of labeling tulips with tamp-blow from above
- Labeling is more accurate.
- Higher speeds are achievable.
- Label printing and application does not need to be synchronized with the movement of products on the line.
- Products do not need to be accurately aligned.
- Application at different heights is possible.
Curious about other opportunities in the agriculture & horticulture sector?
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