Comfortably bedded on traceable slatted frames - Bachmann prints labels on smallest spaces

Sleep is an elixir for regeneration. Under mattresses, top-notch slatted frames support physical and mental freshness. Bachmann Schlafsysteme has been developing and manufacturing them for more than 70 years. Many purchase items, semi-finished and finished parts must be labeled explicitly. Printers MACH 4S and MACH1 by cab do this reliably, standing upright at a workstation or assembled upside down to metal panels.

Neumarkt-St. Veit, Upper Bavaria

CNC machines saw and grind plywood in the factory hall. There is drilling, assembling and labeling, packing and loading onto trucks. The sleeping systems aim for customers in the furniture industry, commercial vehicle and caravan manufacturers and wholesalers. "We develop and produce according to the needs of the target group," says CEO Christian Bachmann: "We provide solid standard products, ergonomic ones of top quality and special ones designed for vehicles or box-spring beds. If requested, we prepare disassembled, folded or rollable for optimized shipping." Bachmann Schlafsysteme offers adjustable slatted frames operated by a motor with metal fittings and double drives, as well as flat design. Aluminum frames for camper vans with pop-up roofs add to the range of products.

Labeled without exception

Labeling is the basis for transparency along the entire process chain. Included are purchase items that arrive in the warehouse, as well as manufacture of semi-finished parts and finished products and their delivery. 5,000 spaces for stocking raw materials on-site enable security and flexibility, and the ability to deliver at any time.

Variable data requested

Harald Steinbach is the person in charge of the company's ICT infrastructure. Individuality is a major issue with regard to label printing. More than 200 label designs are in use. Buying labels ready-printed on rolls and keeping them in stock are no longer sufficient: "Our customers and sales partners," says Mr. Steinbach, "have the most diverse requests in terms of labeling their finished products." In addition to standard information such as the name of a manufacturer and date of production, variable print data are required. This is such data on a label that relates specifically to an individual item and makes it explicitly assignable at all times. Article numbers, order, batch or commission numbers are examples.

Linux capability a selling point

In 2009, Mr. Steinbach was looking for a printer suitable for printing shipping labels. It had to be rugged, as where wood is chopped, splinters fall. The print had to remain legible during the processing, inspection, stocking and transport of a good. The loading of Bachmann sleeping systems is based on barcode verification. Every item leaving the facility is registered by scan. From a technical point of view, the printer must connect directly to the existing ERP system. This runs on a database that performs exclusively under the Linux operating system. The label printer must therefore correspond with Linux.

While on search, Mr. Steinbach became aware of cab. Contact was made. cab evaluated all demands and transferred them to the specifications of its label printers. cab suggested the MACH 4 thermal transfer model for tearing printed labels off a plate. Roll retainers with different labels as wide as 116 millimeters can be exchanged as required. In 2017, the successor MACH 4S followed on MACH 4.

Manufacture follow-up project

The next project involved labels be applied during the final assembly of slatted frames to make semi-finished and finished parts traceable. It is essential to ensure that customers receive correct products. More than 30 workstations each received a terminal with a screen to display work steps to the employees. Each workstation requires a printer. Mr. Steinbach told cab "what requirements we have in mind in particular." The printer should be compact to take as little floor space as possible. It should also be mountable upside down. Every workstation should provide the same type of printer. Standardized configuration should make it possible to replace a unit quickly in the event of a defect.

Small, but impressive

21 centimeters wide and less than 19 centimeters high, MACH1 is the smallest cab label printer. It weighs less than three kilograms. For access, its cover can be opened to the top. Labels and the ribbon are inserted from above respectively the front. The design fits for use wherever little or - like assembly upside down on a metal plate - no floor space is available. Small labels as wide as 112 millimeters can be printed. MACH1 is operated via control buttons and a LED display. Printed labels can be torn off by employees or be provided on the peel-off plate separated from the liner. While a label that has just been printed is stuck onto an item, MACH1 is printing the next one and makes this available as well.

Reasons for selecting cab

When asked about the cooperation with cab, Mr. Steinbach emphasizes "reliable and sophisticated printing systems that integrate effortlessly to our processes." But it is not just products. Also short information paths are valued: "Especially during the project with MACH1 in manufacture, we often had questions and got in touch with the cab support unit by phone. Mr. Foehner, who deserves special mention here, assisted rapidly, friendly and helpful. We greatly appreciate this immense know-how."

Video of this application on https://www.cab.de/en/bachmann-video

Presscontact: Guntram Stadelmann, Marketing / Technical Editing, Phone: +49 721 6626-285, g.stadelmann@cab.de, cab Produkttechnik GmbH & Co KG, Wilhelm-Schickard-Straße 14, 76131 Karlsruhe / Germany, www.cab.de/en

About: cab is Europe's biggest manufacturer of label printing systems. The range of devices includes solutions for marking individual components, units, products or packaging. Healthy global growth, pioneering technologies, products designed according to the needs of operators and the competent support of all customers are prior goals of the company. Employees at locations in eight countries and more than 800 distribution and service partners around the globe are there to meet the targets.

This release was published on openPR.