Automatic Expiry Date Printing from Production Plans for a Consumer Goods (FMCG) Factory in Thailand

How the brief came about

The brief in this case was to have the expiry date on packaging come from the same data as the production plan, instead of being calculated and entered at the printer by hand. The expiry date must change every time the product or production plan changes, and the factory prints this date on multiple packing lines. Product and production plan data already existed in the factory's CIM system (manufacturing data system).

The expiry date is information that consumers see directly. In general, if an expiry date is printed incorrectly, that product lot may have to be sorted or corrected before it leaves the factory. Work that relies on entering dates by hand is therefore a point the quality team has to check again.

Requirements and constraints

The system had to use the data in the CIM system and the printers the factory already uses on the lines. The main requirements and constraints are as follows.

• Read product and production plan data from the database of the factory's existing CIM system
• Send commands to the Videojet 1580 and KGKJET CCS3000L printers already in use on the lines; the factory does not need to replace its printers
• The software can only control printers that accept commands over the network (TCP)
• The scope of work is 6 pilot packing lines, and every line must have a network connection from the CIM system to the printer

Why have the system calculate the expiry date from the production plan in the CIM system?

We have the system calculate the expiry date from data in the CIM system because the product and production plan data are already in this system and are the same data the factory uses for production planning. When the date comes from the same source as the production plan, operators do not have to recalculate it at the line or enter the value at each printer one by one.

We send commands to the existing printers over the network (TCP) instead of replacing them, because both printer models on the lines can accept commands over TCP. The main work is therefore connecting data to the printers, not replacing equipment on the line. The sequence of operation is as follows.

1. 1

   The operator loads the production plan

   When production starts on a new plan, the line operator loads the production plan from the CIM system, with no need to calculate the expiry date themselves.

2. 2

   The system calculates the expiry date

   The software calculates the expiry date (Shelf Life) of the products in that plan from data in the CIM system.

3. 3

   Print commands are sent to the line's printer

   The system sends a print command over the network (TCP) to that line's Videojet 1580 or KGKJET CCS3000L printer.

Deliverables

What we delivered in this project is as follows.

• Software that calculates expiry dates from data in the CIM system
• Automatic print commands sent over the network (TCP) when an operator loads a production plan, supporting Videojet 1580 and KGKJET CCS3000L
• 6 sets of equipment for the pilot lines
• Installation and testing of the system on 6 pilot lines

Confirmed results from the installation

We installed the automatic expiry date printing system on all 6 pilot lines for a consumer goods factory in Thailand in 2023 and closed the project in 2024. After installation, line operators load the production plan from the CIM system and the system sends the expiry date to that line's printer by itself.

This case has no measured figures, such as the number of misprints before and after installation. We therefore report only the installed scope and the way of working confirmed by documents.

What we learned

This project offers the following principles for connecting production data to printers on packing lines.

• Data printed on packaging should come from the same source as the production plan. When the expiry date is calculated from data in the CIM system, the date on the line changes with the production plan the operator loads, without anyone having to change the setting on the printer.
• The way a printer receives commands defines the scope of work. The TCP constraint in this project determined which printer models the software could control, and the printer models in scope changed between the first and final proposals. The actual printer model on every line should therefore be confirmed before finalising the scope of work.
• Start with pilot lines that can be clearly counted. This project defined its scope as pilot lines with equipment per line, so installation and testing could be checked for completeness line by line before considering expansion to other lines.

How this approach can apply to your factory

If your factory prints expiry dates on packaging on several lines and already holds product and production plan data in a system, you can use the same approach as this case: read the data from that system, calculate the expiry date, then send print commands over the network. What needs adapting is the connection to your data system and printer models.