Product: DATALABEL
Client: Willy Italiana Srl
Software used: CREO – PRO-ENGINEER
Project: Automatic machine for woven ribbon embossing printing, 100 × 160 for 3,000 pc/h printing area
Link: http://www.willy.com
The client
Willy Italiana has been a leader in the production of machines for finishing woven ribbons for garment labels since 1975.
The software choice
Thanks to its versatility, Creo has proven to be the perfect software for this project. Creo was used in the component design and optimization phase and during the file management of the product made.
With Creo’s different features, we carried out structural calculations, and simulated the automatism motions and the stresses produced by it, with electric and pneumatic motor systems.
When the best solution was found, with Creo we managed the bills of materials and the spare parts exploded drawings, and provided the client with the product rendering.
The project
The client wanted an embossing machine with an automated process, for up to 3000 pc/h, precise and capable of recognizing and managing any defective labels.
The machine should be performing but competitive from an economic point of view, lighter and more compact than others on the market, and similar in size to the ones that had already been manufactured by the company for other types of labels.
The challenge
In a smaller machine, automating the production processes to increase the performance means dealing with the management of problems related to components vibrations and stresses.
Our challenge was to design a highly productive machine, both in terms of quantity and quality, able to safely meet the required performances by minimizing vibrations and the possible embossing defects.
The solution
We began with using the same base structure as other machines in use at Willy Italiana, so as to integrate the new one with the existing producing chain.
The following elements were added to this “work base”:
- a geared motor and a driving crank, the best automatic system to ensure speed
- a computer-controlled system enabling to exactly position the labels and recognize the defective ones, that can be discarded in advance before the embossing phase, thus avoiding packaging mistakes.
Our action
We began with standardizing the machine’s basic components, then simulated the automation system’s kinematic motions by testing both an electric and a pneumatic version, and carried out structural calculations to analyse the deformation levels.
Additionally, we selected the computer system able to manage imperfections, as requested by the customer.
It was a complex project including structural parts, and automatic and electronic components, requiring a team work for different intervention levels.
Through Creo we managed and shared the information, the issues we faced and the possible solutions, to get a functioning product in each process.
The result
After a first prototype and post-test optimizations, the result is a machine designed in every single detail and with an easy management even by a non-specialized operator, with quality components always ensuring high performance.
With this machine, besides die-cutting and half cut, it is possible to create embossed and glossy weaved labels.
Datalabel 2.0 respects the performance required by the client also thanks to the very good price-quality ratio.