NOM Dairies case study

NOM'S FIRST UK DAIRY TRUSTS IN VIDEOJET'S 1000 SERIES

Nom's £60m state-of-the-art Shropshire dairy officially opened in June 2009, producing yoghurt and yoghurt drinks that are supplied to the major supermarket chains.

The 24-acre site is designed to be the most energy efficient dairy in the UK, and therefore required a coding partner that could work to their environmental goals. After experiencing severe problems with their existing inkjet coders, NOM looked for a better product on the market. Videojet were thrilled to be given the opportunity to trial their 1510 continuous inkjet printer at this pioneering company, and had it installed within the week.

The main problems NOM suffered with the existing equipment were extensive downtime and mixing up the wrong inks in the unit. Mick St John, Head of Engineering at NOM said: “Coding was always in our daily top five on site issues prior to swapping the competitor machines for Videojet 1510's. Our engineers were spending a large proportion of their time trying to make them work.”

Following extensive trials and evaluations of both pieces of equipment, Videojet came out on top replacing eleven competitor inkjet printers. With production demands rising, forcing NOM to a 6-7 day production from 4-5 days, down time was not an option. The Videojet 1510 did not let NOM down and has helped them increase productivity. Mick St John told Videojet: “The simplicity of the 1510, combined with the low maintenance and operator friendliness made this machine the better product.”

Videojet's 1510 removed any operator error with its ‘smart cartridge' fluid system. By reading the embedded microchip, the printer identifies whether compatible fluid has been installed to prevent errors in ink types or switching make-up and ink fluids. Saving time and money, the Smart Cartridge fluid system is designed to drain completely, wasting no residual fluids. The needle-and-septum design eliminates the need for operators to pour ink, preventing fluid spillage and waste, as well as saving time.

The 1510 integrated smoothly with NOM's existing Claricom networking Software and we worked together to produce a 90° angle print head, which was a first for the 1510 and has been a model for future similar applications.

Mick St John felt that Videojet not only provided a better product but was backed by a sound level of service as he commented “We also received a very good level of support and service from Videojet.”

More information on the Videojet 1510 printer

http://www.nomdairy.co.uk