‘Helper Code’ Aids Serialization

A serialization solution at Xttrium Laboratories for a new line dedicated to 16-oz PET bottles of mouthwash includes an ink-jet-printed ‘helper code’ printed ahead of case packing.

A 'helper code' makes it possible to create a parent-child relationship between the corrugated case and the 12 bottles inside.
A 'helper code' makes it possible to create a parent-child relationship between the corrugated case and the 12 bottles inside.

Xttrium Laboratories of Mount Prospect, IL, recently implemented a comprehensive serialization solution from Systech International on a new line for 16-oz PET bottles of prescription mouthwash. After being filled and labeled, the bottles pass beneath an overhead ink-jet printer from Videojet that prints a 2D code on the top of each cap. Xttrium refers to this as a “helper code.” It’s essential because when 12 bottles are collated and pushed into a corrugated case in the Arpac PC 2000 side-loading case packer immediately downstream, there’s no line of sight for a Systech camera to verify the 12 unique 2D codes on the labels because each of those codes is on the side of a randomly oriented bottle. If the 12 unique 2D codes on the labels can’t be inspected, there’s no way that the Systech system can generate a unique code that associates those 12 label codes with a unique case code in a parent-child relationship.

This is where the helper code comes in. Once it’s printed by the Videojet printer, bottles go through a 360-degree Systech vision inspection system that takes multiple images to find the

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