How the Internet of Things can generate more profit for label printers

We are in the midst of the 4th industrial revolution, a revolution driven by sensor technology and data transmission. A quantum leap was achieved when manufacturing equipment was fitted with sensor technology and individual units enabled with the ability to exchange data.

The result was far-reaching and momentous: whereas before our machines were essentially a black box where we relied on the operator to manually record press activities, now we have access to volumes of realtime data on running processes and performance parameters. And the wealth of data can be used to optimize time, material waste, and profit. Here’s how.

Smart manufacturing Machine sensors give us valuable production and productivity data, but this benefit can be further enhanced in the future by communicating information with other machines and other processes. In flexo, for example, where so much is determined by prepress, the level of ink in each ink tray could be communicated via a PDF file and the trays topped up if necessary. You could check whether the correct anilox rollers are in each printing unit, connect finishing and logistics systems, and connect with your suppliers and customers.

Using the sensor data in an open system connected with other downstream and upstream systems creates a fully