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Labeller finds its vocation in craft beer market

20 September 2021

Clearmark Solutions has partnered with the Vocation Brewery to install its first ICE Vulcan print and apply labelling system at the Halifax factory – guaranteeing to meet GS1 criteria, saving on cost, waste and increasing turnover through quicker print runs to label boxes of beer for shipment. 

Sales of craft beers soared in 2020, when the nation’s drinking habits became home-based. This meant that Vocation Brewery had to look at faster ways of applying labels to its boxes while also being compliant with GS1 regulations. 

Previously, labels were printed using a desktop printer and applied by hand, meaning the process was slow and the labels were not always clearly printed or positioned in a neat, uniform way. 
Today, following investment in the ICE Vulcan print and apply labeller, the cost to label each box of craft beer has dropped by 90%, costing the brewery just half a penny per label. Print speeds can reach over 120ppm with a label capacity of 17,000 labels, more than twice the capacity of other labelling systems. 

The ICE Vulcan print and apply labelling system has a non-pneumatic ‘air-less’ design using a direct apply method which allows for accurate label placement without the need for an applicator. The system boasts ‘Intelligent Motion’ technology which enables precise automatic control of components and an 80% reduction of wear parts that traditionally caused unexpected downtime and cost. 

Dan Sutcliffe-Tasker, head of packaging at Vocation Brewery, said: ““Everything sent to retailers has to be boxed and labelled. We produce about 30 pallets a day, with 100 or 200 cases on each pallet. Anything other than our core brand has to have a custom label on it. Since automating our labelling process we have had zero defects – the ICE Vulcan print and apply system is 100% fool-proof and in hindsight we should have automated sooner. 

“Since the ICE Vulcan was installed in March, accuracy has improved dramatically with no issues. The print quality is also of a higher standard as the desktop printer ink sometimes faded due to condensation on the craft board from the temperature, turning the black print grey. But we have had no issues like that with the ICE Vulcan”.


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