T. Marzetti Co. has had a line of superb dressings for produce for many years. However, there had not been many changes in the package design, or the flavor offerings, for some time. After reviewing the situation, they decided that the line needed revitalization. It became apparent that this packaging was out of date, so they decided to change to a 'soft-square' glass bottle with distinctive, shrink-sleeve labels that are clear except for where there is printing or graphics, so the consumer can see the product.

To run the new bottle and labels, Marzetti installed a Model AW-400 high-speed, vertical, rotary shrink-sleeve labeler from NAFM Engineering Service (www.nafm.com) on an existing line. The machine features servo drives and microprocessor controls from Yaskawa Electric America, Inc. The label cutter, label opener and transfer mechanism, as well as the vertical turret that transfers the sleeves to the bottles, are servo-driven. The labeler is interfaced through a color human/machine interface with a touch screen. During operation, the current production data is constantly displayed, and malfunctions can be displayed as plain text and graphs. Settings and data for different jar sizes are stored in the computer and can be recalled by touching the screen, when changing to another jar size. Different bottle heights are accommodated by turning a handle on the back of the machine that activates a hoisting mechanism to raise or lower the machine.

View the complete article published in Packaging Digest November 2005.