Production Labels Module

Production labels play a crucial role in modern manufacturing. Their use is invaluable in ensuring the smooth flow and organization of production processes, especially in large-scale production. The labels are applied directly to profiles immediately after they are cut. They gather all the necessary information in one place, which significantly streamlines the supervision over production. The appearance of labels is always individually tailored to the client's needs, taking into account the specifics of their joinery production made of PVC, aluminium or wood, or the production of roller shutters or shutters.

The appearance of the label is influenced by the available machinery park. To enable automation of production using machines, the label must include a barcode. Furthermore, implementing paperless production with the Production Management Module extends the scope and nature of the data contained on the labels. The Production Label Module is used both for standard labels used in production halls, as well as for labels for useable wastes used to effectively organize profiles in the waste warehouse.

Depending on the characteristics of the plant and the available machinery park, it is crucial to determine what information should be included on the production label. Generally, this data must enable the organization of the production process without the need for paper documentation. Moreover, proper labelling with labels contributes to improved efficiency in monitoring and managing quality at every stage of production.

Groups of information commonly placed on labels include:

• number of order and position, as well as data of the recipient,
• profile code, colour code, cutting length,
• drawing indicating the place of the cut profile,
• barcode for machine management and production tracking,
• type, length and depth of the cut reinforcement,
• type of glass, fittings, glazing beads, seals,
• data about dowels, ventilators,
• production notes, and other data depending on the needs.

The production label is applied immediately after each piece of profile is cut. This is the moment when depending on the available machinery park the decision is made on how to print the production labels. The possible options include printing labels through a saw, a cutting centre, or a cutting-processing centre with the use of a labeller integrated with the machine. Alternatively, the labels can be printed in the office, from where they are then delivered to the production line in the form of a roll or a laid-out A4 sheets with labels. In these cases, our software ensures the same order as in the file transmitted to the machine, or based on the optimization print-out if the saw is manually controlled.

In summary, the labels can be printed in the office, or by machine directly at the cutting place (it requires using a special driver to the machine).

• If labels are printed by the machine, their printing takes place right after the profile is cut, ensuring their quick and precise labelling. However, the appearance of these labels may be subject to some technical limitations of the software on the machines, which is described in more details later in the text.
• Alternatively, the labels can be printed in the office, where their printing proceeds in a sequence corresponding to the order of the planned optimization or the orders. In this case, all customization options for the appearance of labels offered by Stolcad^® Professional can be used.

It needs to be noted that sometimes the software on saws, cutting centres or cutting-processing centres does not allow for the printing of production labels with the full range of capabilities that are available in Stolcad^® Professional. On some machines, it is practically impossible to print drawings or highlight key data by showing them in a different font. Moreover, some machines have limitations on printing barcodes. In such cases, it is necessary to adapt the appearance of labels to the capabilities of the available equipment.

At manufacturers we often encounter situations where the computer-controlled machines owned by them come from different suppliers, or even from one supplier but are generationally from different years. This leads to a significant consequence: sometimes the software on these machines may apply different, often conflicting rules for creating a barcode. With this in mind, we always adjust the barcode configurations individually to the specifics of the machinery park of each manufacturer. Sometimes, due to these limitations, it is necessary to place two, or in extreme cases, even three different barcodes on a label.

The standard version of the Production Label Module also allows for printing of labels for useable waste, which includes the pieces of profiles remaining after optimization, suitable for their reuse. The program allows the user to precisely determine the lengths of these sections for each profile, taking into account their colours, which facilitates efficient resource management. Moreover, it is possible to establish rules for their reuse, which promotes savings and increases sustainable resource utilization. The labels for reusable waste, according to their order of application, can be printed together with production labels in the office, or directly on the saw or the cutting centre based on the data from a file generated by Stolcad^® Professional, provided that the machin's software has such capabilities. Some machines have the capability to independently print labels for waste elements,

without using data from our software. Analogically as it is with the production labels, this situation may sometimes limit the full use of the capabilities of our program. An example is the Inventory Of Waste Warehouse Module, which allows for automatic inventory management of waste profiles based on scanning the barcodes contained on the waste labels. Not using the full potential of this tool may deprive the user of significant benefits, such as optimizing material management and reducing production costs. It is worth noting that that module additionally allows for printing only the waste labels (without production labels), which is used in situations where the software on the machine is unable to print a waste label with a barcode based on data from a file.

The characteristic feature of a production label is that it must be small enough to fit on the profile. If it was larger, it would stick out beyond the profile. Then, during the handling of profiles on production, it could come off or get damaged, leading to a mess. This has an important consequence - it is not possible to place a large number of data on the labels. On the other hand, in order to support paperless production,

the label must provide workers with the complete information necessary at their workstation. These two seemingly contradictory conditions are excellently combined by our Production Management Module. After scanning the barcode on the label, with the use of the module, the worker receives on the monitor screen the comprehensive information about all the processes to be carried out at this workstation.

It should be noted that the life of a production label is very limited and usually only lasts a few hours until the end of the production cycle, after which the label becomes unnecessary and should be removed. Despite this, it happens that not all labels are properly torn off after the production is completed.

Clients with the Multilingual Module can use the option to print labels in different languages within one optimization batch. This solution ensures that companies exporting products to foreign markets can be sure that all information on the labels is presented in the language of the buyers, which increases their satisfaction.

The use of the QR Code On Label Module is an alternative or a complement to traditional barcodes. The labels with QR codes can be even smaller while still containing a large amount of information in a small space.