There’s much exciting news in the way of print on demand technology here at Sinclair! The first commercial installation of Sinclair VPS has been running at Washington state packer/shipper Auvil Fruit since late September 2010.
   That 8-lane system was installed in September, followed by a second 8-lane system that was added to the same sizer in March.  To date, almost 100mn pieces of fruit have been labeled, all with variably printed information including DataBar codes, PLU number and variety.   Being able to only inventory a handful of branded “blank” labels, rather than a multitude of PLU-specific labels (of the same brands) really helps keep inventory costs down.  Packer/shippers can reduce inventory costs by stocking fewer multiple label designs and replacing them with one label “blank” (per brand) and the variable data is printed directly onto fruit labels on the sizer.
   Auvil Fruit’s Plant Operations Manager Walt Hough explains, “We’ve seen a real, tangible difference with the VPS truly minimizing downtime and changeovers.  This is an operational advantage in packing multiple varieties, like we do.

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