Quick Specs
- In-Line Scale
- Custom Software Lookup & Apply
- Networked Pallet Label Printer
The FOX IV Variable-Weight Manifest Shipping (VWMS) System is designed for those companies that ship variable weight products.
The application below describes how a cheese company utilizes the FOX IV VWMS System to manage their production schedule; create a database to record the weight, manufacturing date, and other critical information for each case and pallet; automatically print and apply the case and pallet labels; and generate a pallet shipping manifest.
The cheese company has a total of four packaging lines two for packaged cheese, two for pallets of cheese. Each line consists of a conveyor, an in-line scale, and a label printer applicator. All four lines are controlled from one central FOX IV PC. The PC also has an office printer for generating pallet shipping manifests. The PC is connected directly to the company's network.
The production requirements are downloaded daily to the PC from the company's Production Scheduling System. The VWMS operator screen interfaces are easy to understand and were designed to comply with the company's internal operating procedures and terminology. This makes operator training faster and easier. The operator selects the appropriate command button and the production runs are automatically loaded into the VWMS System. The operator has the option to edit the production data.
Data for the production run consists of the account number, product number, product description, the number of boxes on the order, the invoice number, the production vat number, and the manufacturing date. The operator verifies that the information is correct, enters the vat weight, and production begins.
As the case moves down the conveyor and across the in-line scale, the scale sends the net weight to the PC. The VWMS System stores the weight, deducts the weight from the vat weight, automatically builds the database, and sends the case label data to the label printer applicator. Once the vat is empty the VWMS System automatically selects the next vat assigned to that production line.
The label is printed and automatically applied to the case. In addition to the human readable text showing the product description, the weight, and the invoice number, the case label also contains a 38-digit bar code that encodes the product number, account number, vat number, box weight, and manufacturing date.
For those companies that ship to a number of customers, each with their own label format, the VWMS System allows the operator to easily select other customer specific label formats to be printed.
The pallet lines operate basically the same way as the case line except that the system generates a unique pallet ID number once the pallet is completed. The pallet label is printed and automatically applied to the pallet. The VWMS System then creates a new database for the customer with all the manufacturing information that is linked to the unique pallet ID number.
Once the pallet is complete, the operator generates a pallet shipping manifest that contains the customer name, the customer order number, all of the case ID numbers with the corresponding weight and vat, the total number of boxes and the net pallet weight.
The VWMS System can be expanded to control up to 20 production lines, provide additional management reports, collect data on production rates, generate Advanced Shipping Notices (ASN), alert operators to system and equipment malfunctions, and communicate with other marking devices such as ink jet printers.