RFID radio technology also supports the protection procedure. Electronic chips beneath the label, so-called transponders, save the exact product code. “Before the seller accepts the product, he can check this code in the database and check whether the manufacturer has actually produced the product or whether it is a plagiarism.”
The TTI system label makes it possible to reliably check the cold chain from production, to the refrigerator of the end consumer. It is activated during labelling with UV lighting and appears in a dark blue at the beginning. On its journey towards the end consumer, the label reacts to temperature deviations by changing colour. The longer the product has been stored somewhere too warm, the more quickly the colour turns into white. And this signalises to the distributor and end consumer that the product is already inedible – even if the best before date has not yet expired.
“The participants of the transport chain, for example the shipping company, can now no longer sweep it under the table when fresh products have inadvertently been stood in the glaring sun for half an hour with an open HGV door. The label documents such malpractice, so that the seller can reject the delivered products if needed,” explains Büttgenbach. A UV filter prevents manipulation by repeat recharging.
For producers, TTI labels are a cost-effective quality-assurance tool, particularly to protect highly-sensitive products like mince, for which even slight deviations in the target temperature can lead to considerably damage. And, in addition, the consumer gets a system, which consistently enhances the best before date and also shows any vulnerabilities in their own product handling, for example storage in a fridge that is too warm.
Traditionally, packaging is labelled with price, information and decorative labels on the top, bottom and side. An alternative procedure, the so-called C-Wrap label, makes it possible to show all the content on just one label, which surrounds the product, for example a ready meal or salad, on three sides, thus forming a “C”. As a full-wrap, it can also surround all four sides. “Using software to design the labels, the manufacturer himself can decide what content to put in what positions. In the shop, the customer can then read the most important data, for example the price or any possible allergens contained, on the side of the product packaging without having to take the package from the shelf.”
To satisfy the growing market demand, Bizerba has developed an application procedure, which makes it possible to use C-Wrap labels with the fully automated labeller of the GLM-I series, thus making it possible to use them industrially.
Bizerba is a leading, worldwide-operating Solutions-provider offering professional system solutions in scale, label, information and food service technologies, in the retail, food industry, producing and logistic segments. Sector-specific hardware and software, high-performance network-compatible management systems as well as a wide selection of labels, consumables and business services ensure transparent control of integrated business processes and high-level availability of Bizerba-specific performance features.
