RFID Shows Promise for Faster Plate, Die Tracking

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RFID Shows Promise for Faster Plate, Die Tracking
Mar 17, 2007
Official Board Markets

An unusual pilot project in the Cleveland suburbs is showing promising signs for improving the tracking of printing plates and cutting dies in corrugated converting operations. The project uses radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology, placing tags and antennas on flexo printing plates and rotary cutting dies.

Jamestown Container Companies, Warrensville Heights, Ohio, and The Kennedy Group, Willoughby, Ohio, have spearheaded the pilot under the auspices of the Association of Independent Corrugated Converters' (AICC's) RFID Task Force.

According to Joseph Palmeri, technical services manager for Jamestown, the tags are being placed on 25 rotary cutting dies and 25 sets of flexo printing plates. Handheld RFID readers are then used to locate dies in racks and plates in the plate room, cutting the time to search for them nearly in half. Because dies and plates can be misplaced easily, the technology has promise for keeping production schedules on track and set up times to a minimum.