Label applicators are working effectively on lines that are filling and packaging short runs of highly viscous products

HSV Sonder-maschinenbau GmbH is now using Herma 500 label applicators on its filling and packaging lines thanks to their Profinet interface, online configurator and modular design.

The company develops and manufactures complete systems, from the removal of the filling goods from drums to the finished pallet with the packed containers such as cartridges, for products as diverse as 2-component adhesives and impression materials for dental applications to a special adhesive used to affix car windscreens.

“Our filling and packaging plants are highly automated,” says Waldemar Hert, managing director of HSV. “And because batch sizes are getting smaller and changeover processes are increasing, we try to eliminate the human factor as much as possible.”

For label applicators, the company now relies exclusively on the Herma 500. “Having a Profinet interface is extremely important for us,” he explains. “This allows us to completely integrate the applicator into our own control architecture and with other suppliers, the interfaces often have to be created with a great deal of programming effort, if it’s even possible at all.”

The online configurator that Herma has developed is also an advantage for HSV. “In it, we can pre-configure the applicator, including the stand, as we need it,” says HSV operations manager Jörg Leonberger.

The latest HSV system, in which two Herma 500s were installed, is used for filling a special adhesive used to affix car windscreens and operates in North America. There are 20 product variations that are filled in both plastic and aluminium cartridges along with a large number of label variations, some in the form of booklet labels. “This is a major challenge for the labelling process,” says Hert. “The aluminium cartridges remain nicely cylindrical after filling, but the plastic cartridges become slightly conical or spherical.”

The applicator nevertheless ensures high reproducibility of precise and wrinkle-free labelling results. “There is no slippage with the Herma 500 and the scanning is perfect,” he says. The applicator can also handle new labelling challenges that may arise during operation as parameters can be accessed remotely via the web interface.

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